Mahatma...

... is my middle name and I hate it for many reasons. Not only does it make my legal name longer (Luis Junior Mahatma Moya Rojas, good grief, what were my parents thinking by giving me 5 names!) but it is also a very uncommon name and people used to make fun of it. I have always entertained the thought of dropping it but I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle.

I went to the bank to open an account here in London and the lady was from India. When she noticed my name was Mahatma, she asked me if it came from Mahatma Ghandi. Yes, I told her and I also told her how my mom read about him in a book and decided to name me after him. I didn't tell her how much I hated the name because I didn't want to sound offensive. Then she told me she was from the same town as Mahatma Ghandi! Cool, I thought. When I told her I was here doing charity work for disabled people, she said it was like really cool that I was doing the same thing my namesake used to do. That's the coolest thing I have ever been told about being named Mahatma.