India, July 14 -- By Sujata Rajpal

My name is Sujata and there is no 'h' in my name." That's how I introduced myself when, twenty-five years ago, I made Mysuru my home.

Landing straight from a pakka Punjabi North Indian household into Mysuru, a city deeply immersed in South Indian ethos, was a cultural shock. I noticed that 'h' seemed to be the default letter in names ending with 't' or 'd' - Geetha, Aniketh, Parvathi, Bharath, Siddhartha. There were simply too many 'h's for me to digest.

Initially, I thought the extra 'h' was for good luck like the extra 'a' some celebrities add to their names for an additional dose of auspiciousness. It was only later that I understood that the extra 'h' wasn't for extra luck.

In the South, people s...