My name is.....

A curious trend has quietly taken root in Kashmir’s academic and intellectual spaces. A PhD in physics renames himself “Quantum.” A scholar of zoology becomes “Mendel.” Others attach Einstein, Darwin, Tesla, or similar towering figures of science to their names. At first glance, it may look harmless, even playful. But beneath this habit lies a deeper social and intellectual unease that deserves reflection.

Knowledge is meant to illuminate, not decorate. Yet in Kashmir, learning is increasingly worn like an ornament rather than practiced as a discipline. When individuals feel compelled to rename themselves after scientific concepts or historical scientists, it often signals not confidence but insecurity. It is an attempt to borrow authority instead of earning it.

This obsession is rooted partly in credential anxiety. Degrees in Kashmir come after years of struggle, uncertainty, and limited institutional reward. A doctorate rarely guarantees dignity, stability, or influence. When society fails to respect genuine scholarship, some individuals try to compensate by dramatizing their academic identity. The name becomes a badge meant to command attention where work alone does not.

There is also a colonial hangover at play. Local names, languages, and intellectual traditions are often seen as insufficient. Attaching Western scientific symbols creates an illusion of global relevance. Bashir, Showkat, or Aijaz suddenly feel incomplete unless accompanied by Quantum or Mendel. This reflects a deeper discomfort with our own intellectual self-worth.

Another troubling aspect is the confusion between symbol and substance. Science is not a costume. It is a slow, demanding process of questioning, testing, failing, and refining ideas. When scientific terms are reduced to identity markers, the discipline itself gets diluted. Jargon replaces understanding. Titles replace thinking. Appearance replaces contribution.

Social media has amplified this tendency. Platforms reward instant visibility, catchy names, and dramatic self-presentation. A striking name travels faster than a serious paper, a patient classroom lecture, or years of fieldwork. In such an environment, the temptation to rebrand oneself as a walking concept becomes strong.

Ironically, the giants whose names are borrowed lived very differently. Gregor Mendel worked quietly in a monastery garden. Einstein disliked public worship and celebrity. Darwin hesitated for years before publishing his ideas. none of them felt the need to announce their greatness through names. Their authority emerged naturally from work, integrity, and time. In Kashmir, this naming obsession also reveals a deeper crisis of intellectual culture. We have begun to consume knowledge as identity rather than practice it as responsibility. Education is increasingly used to elevate the self socially, not to serve society ethically. The result is loud scholarship with little depth.

There is nothing wrong with pride in one’s field. But humility is the foundation of learning. A name should carry one’s family, history, and place, not borrowed brilliance. True scholarship does not need prefixes or suffixes. It speaks through clarity, teaching, research, and public service. Kashmir does not need renamed scientists. It needs teachers who teach well, researchers who research honestly, and thinkers who think deeply. True knowledge doesn’t shout. It whispers, works, and waits.

And Kashmir doesn’t need Quantum sir. It needs sir who actually understands quantum, and teaches it with humility.

Dr. Ashraf Zainabi is a teacher and researcher based in Gowhar Pora Chadoora J&K