Arnold...You have competition Honey!!!

This blog is a dedication to my dad whose name has been mutilated a zillion times by my co-workers, credit card companies, banks, my cell phone network providers, my laptop service providers, my landlord, the IT personnel of my school, my undergrad students to the latest addition on this long list (my second blog finally seems shorter now) was the person who drew my blood at the blood donation drive yesterday! For everyone's benefit my last name is Krishnamachari (phew even I get confused with the m and n in my name). Trust me for all the Americans and Asians (other than Indians) spelling my name and even worse pronouncing it would make "Rocket Science" seem less intricate in comparison. Before I comment any further, a brief heads up on a recent NASA launch (Krishnamachari To NASA....I aint digressing). The most recent activity at NASA was the Themis mission, wherein five satellites stacked like a wedding cake were launched on a single rocket to figure out the source of a potentially devastating geomagnetic substorms in the earth's atmosphere. (I must admit, I could not comprehend much out of this sentence, but all I can say is it's a sentence when used as pick up line can easily woo girls like me who get completely enticed by the sheer magnetism of such a powerful cerebral lobe). Well, the blog aint directed towards what turns me on and without digressing any further, the principal investigator of this mission said that this was the most difficult launch ever implemented by NASA. So now I wonder, if these very same scientists on this mission were asked to pronounce and spell my last name would they still consider the launch difficult?????????????
Trust me I aint over exaggerating. These are a few of the comments made by people (from the long list I cited at the beginning of the blog) when asked to say my name.
1. Are all the alphabets in English language encompassed in that one name. That could be a great alternative to ABC...
2. How do you say that awfully long word- When I do manage to say it effortlessly much to their chagrin for some and amusement for others they all go "Give us 25 years and even we will master this art"
3. K...Kr...Krish...I am not even gonna attempt..coz by the time I can pronounce your name, our office hours will be over and we still would not have your credit card activated or your laptop issue resolved.
Trust me at places where I have to spell my name for these people to make a note of, every transaction takes me atleast 5 times longer than an average one, as I have to repeat my name atleast 10 times with a different alphabetical source of error each time.
4. When I have to spell my name in a way giving an example for every letter, the operator on the other end is usually exhausted half way through and the usual comment is "This seems eternal" or "Aint it over yet???????? or "Are you providing us with the last names of all the members in your family tree?????????"
5. Just yesterday, at the blood donation drive the comment was "Withdrawing 500 mL of blood took me less time than trying to pronounce your name right"
But all these diverse people from radically different spheres of life have just one advice for me that is "Please marry someone with a shorter last name!!!!!!!!!"
I used to feel pretty embarrassed and hurt by such insensitivity and impolite comments initially but later as I could understand their conundrum, I started to take it in my stride and infact these days I am almost in splits myself when I have to spell my name and I realize there are still more 8 alphabets to go and I am already fatigued.
So now I can happily say what "Schwarzenegger" is to Indians, "Krishnamachari” is to Americans (Both are 14 alphabets long) and so I love you Dad!!!!