What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare.
May be Shakespeare was true then. But is he still true in today's world?
I doubt it. And I have some good reasons to do so.

To begin with, let's talk about politics. Perhaps people of no other country can ever understand the key role a name plays in politics like we Indians do.
The name in the case is Gandhi. Ever since the time of our freedom struggle, the name Gandhi inspired may a common Indians. But back then, it was actually Gandhi, the person- Mr Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, fondly called Bapuji and Mahatma, who inspired our ancestors. And he still does the same. And so does his name (I'm not talking about Mahatma but about the name Gandhi). Ever since the days of Indira Gandhi, the name Gandhi has become the most popular name in the Indian politics. And also it has become the easiest way up the power ladder. How elscould SoniaiGandhijiii have come to position she is in today, if not for her last name?
But then, ofcourse, she has proved herself in that power and complicated position. And the people all over India have grown to love her and reckon her as one among themselves (I'm one of those). Even this can be attributed to her last name. Obviously, had she chosen to drop her last name we wouldn't be talking about her today.And thenenof courseee there are various names, specific to certain castes that play akeroleer in state and regional politics. For example, here in Andhra Pradesh, such names are Reddy, Naidu, Chowdary, Goud, Yadav etc. That parties often exhort their candidates and prospective candidates to add such names,if they don't, already, have one, according to their castes is an open secret. And these arthe partiesethatta boast that they are trying to abolish all forms of social inequalities. But parties aren't just to be blamed. Even voters follow these names. And some of our political leaders wouldn't have ever come into light had they not used their names effectively.

And then, same is the case in film industry. The name is even more important down here in South than in the North. What else is an easy way to enter the industry than adding, telling and displaying your maiden name or father'name prominentlyyy? Well, I don't know of any!

And recently I came across an even more strange phenomenon in the IT industry. I heard that those guys who didn't even get any interview appointments got some nice jobs immediately after adding their maiden names or names regarding their respective castes. Looks like the scourge of casteism has spread its tentacles over the relatively new IT industry too...

Well, and so I think that a rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but it may remain in oblivion without that name. So what's your take on this ? Please post your comments.