After a brief hiatus,…

After a brief hiatus, we've reviving DesiLit's literary journal, and we'd love your help in picking a new name. (You don't need to be South Asian to participate -- in fact, it might be helpful if you aren't, since we'd like the name to work for a wide audience.)

DesiLit Magazine has a certain name recognition, and a history of excellence, that's worth preserving. But it's not the most evocative of names, and 'magazine' sounds more commercial and less literary than 'journal.' So we're aiming for a name that better symbolizes what we hope to become -- one of the best journals of South Asian and diaspora art and literature. We're thinking of a name something like this:

_____________: A DesiLit Arts and Literature Journal

Of course, what goes in the blank is key. We're hoping to find an English word drawn from a South Asian language. The name should be beautiful, evocative, and ideally fairly easy to spell and remember. And of course, they shouldn't already be the names of literature journals (Verandah, for example, would have been a possible name, but it already exists as a fine journal.) Here's a brief list of possible names we're considering:

  • Anaconda
  • Atoll
  • Aubergine
  • Bangle
  • Bungalow
  • Calico
  • Chutney
  • Coolie
  • Dhal
  • Dinghy
  • Ginger
  • Hot Toddy
  • Jackal
  • Jaggery
  • Juggernaut
  • Peacock
  • Polo
  • Pundit
  • Pukka
  • Pyjama
  • Roti
  • Typhoon
This week, I'd love to hear additional suggestions of names, and/or any thoughts you have about the names above. Ones you particularly love, or particularly dislike, and why? Then, at the end of the week, I'll collate all of these responses into a short-list, and then next week, I'll ask for a vote to help us decide on a final name.

What do you think? Do any of these appeal?

4 thoughts on “After a brief hiatus,…”

  1. I admit to a fondness for
    Durga’s Dream,
    or
    Kali’s Dance.
    But maybe these are too Hindu-specific.

  2. Sumana Harihareswara

    I must admit to a reflexive BLAH at a few of the food-based names (“Roti”, “Ginger”). “Pundit” unfortunately implies a political focus.

    I like “Jaggery” because it evokes “dagger” and I like “Pukka” for its various interesting meanings because it reminds me of “puckish”.

    From Arabic you could get “Azure”, “Damask”, “Cipher”, “Elixir”, “Talisman”, and a few others (need to check further as I’m going off https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Arabic_words_and_phrases ).

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