Comparing Santha Rama Rau's Short Story 'By Any Other Name'

The complexities of human nature are almost immeasurable, though one thing is clear: people need societal validation and affirmation. In the short story, “By Any Other Name”, two young Indian girls, Premila and Santha, are sent to a British school in India, where conformity is forced upon them. Ostracized for their differences, Premila loses sight of her cultural identity while Santha stays steadfast in her beliefs. In Santha Rama Rau’s short story “By Any Other Name”, the author uses the protagonist’s inability to accept or even understand conformity to highlight a key theme: by rejecting the need for validation and refusing to conform, one develops a stronger sense of self.
Rau uses the juxtaposition between Santha’s youthful individuality and Premila’s immediate conformity to highlight the effects of both responses to societal pressures. When Premila “whisper[s] fiercely that [Santha] should go and sit with [her]

class, because that was what the others seemed to be doing” (Rau, 5), she is physically and metaphorically pushing her sister away in an effort to gain acceptance from her peers. Premila “also told Mother, in an aside, that [they] should take sandwiches to school the next day. Not, she said, that she minded. But they would be simpler for [Santha] to handle” (Rau, 6). While Santha demonstrates the positive effects of free-thinking, Premila represents, in many ways, a typical conformist. Despite her attempts to fit in, Premila, like many conformists before her, is still ridiculed for her differences. No matter what she eats for lunch, or the lengths she goes to in order to feel accepted, Premila is still subjected to cruelty, while Santha, who refuses to seek validation from the beginning, remains untouched, or unbothered at the very least, by the prejudice surrounding them.
Santha’s inability to accept “Cynthia” as her new name indicates that she is unwilling to conform to society’s expectations, strengthening her sense of individuality.

Santha “[remembers] having a certain detached and disbelieving concern in the actions of “Cynthia,” but certainly no responsibility” (Rau, 3). Rau uses the early disconnect between Santha’s idea of who she is and the personality being forced upon her to demonstrate her ability to think for herself, even at a young age. Santha, being a five-year-old, is bewildered when asked to change herself for the convenience of others, stating in class that she does not know who she is. Deciding to be unadulteratedly herself, Santha “put it happily away, because it had all happened to a girl called Cynthia, and [she] never was really particularly interested in her” (Rau, 9). Santha’s ability to simply ‘put away’ her troubles with being pressured to conform indicates a strong sense of self, regardless of age. By refusing to follow convention, Santha strengthens her personal and cultural

identities.
Humans, by nature, seek validation. It is because acceptance is comforting, yes, yet many choose to conform in order to gain this acceptance, and that, paradoxically, causes people to feel self-conscious and inferior. Free-thinkers and nonconformists, on the other hand, gain a stronger sense of who they are, personally and culturally by refusing to fit the mold. In Santha Rama Rau’s short story, “By Any Other Name”, the protagonist’s refusal to seek out validation through conformity highlights the central theme that by rejecting the need for affirmation, one develops a stronger sense of self.