Craze among parents to name their newborns as Anna

JAIPUR: 'Let a thousand Anna bloom' reads a recent sand sculpture, and sure it does, literally, in hundreds of hospitals across the country.

Like in other cities, several parents in Jaipur are on a naming spree of their newborns and the most sought after name is 'Anna' and 'Kishan'-the first name of the anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare.

For the past 10 days, hospitals in the city have registered several newborns with the same name. Even astrologers have suggested to name newborns as Anna to parents if they have been asked to choose names starting with the alphabet A.

Pandit Damodar Sharma, an astrologer, said, "There are parents who have to name their children with an alphabet A, and they opt for Anna. One such father is Dilip Singh, who named his child as Anna."

The craze is also at its peak in private nursing homes too. Doctors of the private nursing homes claimed that parents are calling many of their newborns as Anna. Private Nursing and Hospital Society general secretary Dr Vijay Kapoor said, "We don't have the record but there is a craze for Anna among the new parents. Some parents have named their children as Anna."

He said most fathers felt that their newborns will fight against corruption in future with the same zeal as that of Anna Hazare.

Managing director of a private hospital, Dr Satyanarayan Patodiya, said, "The parents of some couples also associate Anna Hazare with Lord Krishna. Anna's actual name is Kishan, so there are many parents who named their children as Kishan, hoping that they too would fight against corruption."

He added that calling newborns as Anna or Kishan is a sign that people will not tolerate corruption any more and that the fight against corruption will be intensified.