The Chindian Cometh

September 26, 2007

He came a bit early and had his parents a bit unprepared, but then again who can prepare you for the greatest thing in your life?My wife Candice and I welcomed our first child KRISHAN CHEN XING HUA CHOPRA into the world a week ago today, and as all the cliches attest, our life changed overnight. It’s true that no matter what people tell you, there is just no way to predict how your whole POV shifts in that single moment when that being emerges and how no longer are you living for yourself, but your reference point for living suddenly finds a whole new location. All of a sudden, you have a love letter with the planet and he has a name and a little being that every single moment is being imprinted by the world around him. So it becomes your responsibility like never before to do what you can to shape that world.

But enough with the sappy stuff, how about that name? Pretty cool, huh? As my wife and I are both first generation Americans but of Chinese and Indian origin respectively, we really had a lot of bases (and 4 gransparents and 3 great grandparents) to cover. Krishan was actually the name of my late grandfather who we called Daddy, my father’s father. Krishan Lal Chopra was a true patriarch of my family and one of the greatest physicians (personal physician to Lord Mount Batten) to grace India in the last century. If my son lives up to half the man of his namesake, I will be VERY proud. Krishan is also of course a variation on Lord Krishna who was always my favorite God amongst the vast pantheon of Indian Gods. When people ask me what does it mean, I say that Krishna is God’s guide because in the Bhagavad Gita, it is Lord Krishna who is Lord Arjuna’s charioteer and steers his carriage on the battlefield of the Mahabharata. When Arjuna hesitates and feels apprehension about engaging in the war, it is Krishna who comes to his aid and reveals the full miracle that is all life and the planet and Universe that surrounds him. It is Krishna that restores order to the Universe when even the Gods have their existential moments.

Chen Xing Hua was gifted to us by my wife’s 90+ grandmother. The Xing Hua part describes a certain type of birch tree that blossoms year round. It adapts to every season – sun, snow, wind or rain, and prospers.

So that’s my kid. Part Chinese, part Indian, with an Amercian passport, and a Red Sox fan from day 1. We call him the Master Race, but really he is just who he is and we love him for it.

Warm regards,

Gotham Chopra

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