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Protagonist

Hi guys,

Like S. Mohinder, I was born in Madras, India. I was born there in 1977 and that would be about the time he was born. I have been in the US since I was five so we don't share the exact same background. Interestingly, the background of Sendhil (the actor) and myself is surprisingly similar.

I have had a little bit of confusion as to Mohinder's name because in the episode "info" he was referred to as Suresh and in other places as Mohinder Suresh. In Tamil Nadu, people don't really have last names. You take your father's name as your first initial and then you have your name. So, if his father is Suresh, he is S. Mohinder to help people realize he is different than another Mohinder.

What an inefficient way to do names, especially in a state of 100 million people right? Well, family and even neighbors can recite connections many layers deep and many layers wide. Understanding how closely you are tied to family, both for good and ill, and how this system is sort of built upon conformity, is an important part of understanding Mohinder the character.

Your father is part of you, and that is not a shared family name, but his own name. This is mostly for the good, but what of a man that leaves his family to go on a seemingly pointless quest? Mohinder can choose to sever himself from his dad and make a new identity for a new family or to salvage his dad's name for himself (and a new family).

As for my own forum name, it comes from the original Hiro as Hero. Hiro Protagonist of the novel Snow Crash. He also struggled with issues of identity as he was half Japanese and half Caucasian and not fully accepted by either (in a slight future world that was created prior to Web 1.0 but may stand as what Web 3.0 or Web 4.0 will be).

I tend to be a bit verbose and my theories tend to be a bit involved, but I also just enjoy sitting back and watching the show for what it is: entertainment. I hope you enjoy my slightly off-angle point of view.

birq · Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:30 am Post subject:

I used to work with a guy from southern India whose father's name was Suresh. His given name was something that had about 15 letters. He went by Suresh just because he gave up trying to get people to pronounce it and he didn't like it when people tried to shorten it. Now I work with a guy from Sri Lanka who does the same thing. He's more flexible, though, and he'll answer to just about anything Smile

Welcome to the forum! Feel free to get as verbose as you want!

Erden · Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:44 am Post subject:

Good intro there welcome to the site

SuperHiro · Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:54 am Post subject:

We love verbose and involved. The crowd here really digs deep into the show, and you're thoughts and ideas are most welcome here!