Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi: Why Twitter Trolls Are Completely Out of Line

Kareena Kapoor Khan’s much-publicized pregnancy reached its ‘fruitful’ end, as she and husband Saif Ali Khan welcomed their firstborn into the world on the morning on December 20. The couple shared the news with a statement announcing the arrival of a little boy into their lives and revealing that they have chosen to name him Taimur Ali Khan. Within hours, the name was trending on Twitter, with the new parents at the receiving end of some rather distasteful trolling.

From laughing at the name to calling Saif Ali Khan a Jihadi and wishing ill for a newborn, who has barely opened his eyes to the world, we saw it all. As a parent, it makes me cringe to think how much hatred and prejudice we are capable of just on the basis of a name. Many of those who are sticking their necks out to Saif, Kareena and their newborn all sorts of name certainly have no inkling about the reasons why the couple chose this particular name for their baby. And from the looks of it, they don’t seem to care for the reasons either. You know you hear Taimur, you think Taimur Lang, the oppressive conqueror who is known to have massacred tens of thousands of Hindus when he invaded the country in 1398.

For the record, the word Taimur means iron in Arabic, and I think it is a perfectly reasonable name to have for your child. But what I think is inconsequential. And so is the opinion of the hundreds of trolls out there who are hurling choicest abuses on a family because they don’t agree with a name. The right to name a child whatever the hell one wants is of the parents and parents alone. Whether it is a good name or a bad one is the problem of the child who has to live with it. It is NONE of your business.

When I decided to name my daughter Ariana, a lot of people ridiculed and scoffed at the name, saying it sounds like Haryana. And it is true when spoken with a heavy Punjabi accent, the name does sound like a lot like Haryana. These reactions did evoke feelings of anger, resentment and downright irritation initially. I even contemplated changing the name altogether, but she felt like an Ariana every time I held her or looked at her face. Eventually, I ran out of Fs to give. People could choose to call her Haryana, Himachal, Andhra or whatever the hell they pleased. She was going to have the name I picked out for her with all my heart.

Luckily for me, this name bashing was limited to family, friends, and acquaintances. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like for the parents to have their newborn subjected to such offensive jeering on a public platform. For the uninitiated, here is a sneak peek of the extent to which some people went to express their displeasure over the name Taimur: 

So Saif Ali Khan’s son and a Pakistani missile have the same name: Taimur. Both inspired by a mass murderer who slaughtered Hindus. — Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) 

Saif Ali khan and Kareena Kapoor khan naming their child Taimur is equivalent to European naming their children Hitler..LOL.. #TaimurAliKhan — Syed Tariq Pirzada ?@tariq_pirzada

@TarekFateh Let’s just hope the kid die from cancer or better I am hoping Kareena was infected with Zika during her pregnancy — Keshav Joshi @keshav-Joshi

What a Shame! Once a Timur piled up Hindu men’s beheaded skulls & in 20 yrs #TaimurAliKhan will be hero of our Hindu girls — Sourish Mukherjee ?@me_souris

• First Love Jihad 
• Then produced a Jihadi 
• Then give a Murderer's name 2 Jihadi 
• Result - A cross-breed generation & society #TaimurAliKhan

— The Digital Kernel ?@thekernelspeaks

Is it just me or is all this Islamophobia and right-wing hatred getting too old and tiresome? Thankfully, there were a few sane reactions to drown this spewing of hatred:

Nirbhaya Rape Prime accused was named “Ram” did he behaved like one? Then what make u idiots think that #TaimurAliKhan will be a warmonger? — Abbas Haider ?@abbas_haiderr

By attacking a newborn baby & his parents the filthy RW has reached a level below even the gutter their natural habitat! #TaimurAliKhan — Swati Chaturvedi ?@bainjal

How can anyone curse a newborn baby? Seriously it’s the end of humanity !!! #TaimurAliKhan May God Bless U with Good health and prosperity. — SRKs Songbird @SRKsZindagi

Seriously, we think so too. Just because a microblogging site allows you 140 characters to speak your mind, doesn’t mean you have to prove what a sick space it is. Here’s a piece of advice to all the haters: how about getting your nose out of other people’s business and ditching that SmartScreen to get a life?