Chapter 1

Mr. Naman Ugarwadi was a simple man, a man who believed in simple living and long thinking. Yes, indeed most of his time was spent in his thoughts and no one knew what he was thinking.

Mr Naman was born on 10th June 1975 in a small town Ugar near the foothills of Himalayas. His father, Mr. Raman Singh, was an interesting man who taught literature in the nearby Central school (Kendriya vidhyalaya). Mr. Raman was a self-content man who liked walking with a stick. The 10 minute walk from his house to school at 8 am in mornings and back to house at 4 pm in evenings were his best moments of everyday life. Walking with a stick reminded him of Charlie Chaplin, so he walked with a smile on his face. It also reminded him of old people who walk with sticks and it made him act more maturely than he would normally do. Mr. Naman's mother, Mrs. Kavita Singh, was a housewife. Confining herself to households, she was proud of her husband and his stick.

Mr. Naman was born as Mr. Naman Singh to which he later changed his name to Mr. Naman Ugarwadi. There are many rumors behind why the name Naman was chosen. Some say that Mr. Raman Singh wanted his son to have footprints of his name but he didn't like the idea of Mr. Raman Singh Junior. He was worried that whenever his wife would call Raman, he will answer the call. He further thought that similar names can also lead to confusion in identities and his wife can mistake him for her son. This may lead to consequences such as eating all vegetables, drinking milk everyday and more importantly his stick will be taken away from him. So he decided against Junior. Some say that Naman comes from Mr. Raman's respectful style of greeting everyone but many believe that Naman actually comes from Mr. Raman's fascination for palindromes. Mr. Raman has named his house - rahGhar (road-house). Palindrome is the only reason that Mr. Raman learned Malayalam, he had studied it hoping that the grammar of Malayalam was designed keeping palindromes in mind but later he was very disappointed. The real reason behind the name Naman still remains a mystery.

Mr. Naman changed his name from Naman Singh to Naman Ugarwadi at the age of 18 when he got lost. It is also a mystery whether Mr. Naman was physically lost or lost in his thoughts. Many believe its both. Mr. Naman aspired to be a poet and like all great poets, wanted to have a pen name based on the town that he lived. Others tell that Jackie the dog was the reason. Every evening at sharp 5:30 pm, Jackie the dog used to come in front of rahGhar and bark 3 howls and went away. No one knew from where this dog come from and where he went away. Mr. Naman, one day, decided that he will solve the mystery of this dog and hence decided to follow Jackie. But Jackie was no ordinary dog. Since his whereabouts were unknown, there were many who believed him to be god's messenger. Jackie's 3 howls were considered God's message and many local pundits were consulted to explain its meaning. Jackie took Mr. Naman in the outskirts of Ugar into the woods and vanished. Mr. Naman confused that how the dog has vanished relentlessly searched the forest and got lost in the process. He decided to spend the night under a tree. In the morning, he tried to walk back home and while coming back was mesmerized by the natural scenic beauty of the place. The beautiful valley, lush green surroundings, clean cool breeze, hills rising in front of him. Seeing all this he decided to name himself after the wadi (valley) of his town Ugar and hence coined the word Ugarwadi. Mr. Naman was well aware that Ugarwadi in hindi meant terrorist but he was unable to contain his respect for the wadis of Ugar and hence decided to go ahead with it.

That day, when Mr. Naman reached home back, he told his father "Papa, from now on I am an Ugarwadi". Mr. Raman,shocked, unable to grasp the real meaning for a moment had wished to hit his son with his stick but his love for the stick was greater than anything else. Later when Mr. Naman told him the real thing, he refused to accept it. First Mr. Naman made several attempts to convince his father to accept his name. He took examples of all the great poets - the Lakhnavis, the Ludhianavis, the Akbarabadis but they were of no use. Finally he told his father that he no more cared for his acceptance and he has made his decision final. Mr. Raman Singh since then used to call his son - Naman Ugarwadi as Na-Manu-Ugarwadi(dont believe that you are a terrorist).

This is the myth behind the name Naman Ugarwadi. Later we will know more about the person.