[Assam] Elephant Baby Name

[Chan Mahanta]

A baby was born to Ellie and Raja, a pair of Asian elephants at the 
St. Louis Zoo. There is a naming contest afoot.



>This is what I posted at :



>http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/news-talk-of-the-day/2006/08/its-a-girl-elephant-what-would-you-name-her/comment-page-53/#comments



>
>Mine was post # 264
>
>****************************************************************************************************************
>
>I propose Aajoli.
>
>"Aajoli" means 'simple, harmless, innocent, childlike etc.' in the 
>Assamese language.
>
>I was told that Ellie, the mother, came from Assam state, from 
>India's north-eastern frontier. Assam is home to a large remaining 
>contingent of Asian elephants. It is also home to many endangered 
>species, like the one horned Asian rhino. So I thought an Assamese 
>name, easy on the American tongue, will do justice to the elephant 
>calf, obviously a darling to us St. Louisans.
>
>Furthermore, the Aajoli name sounds intuitively related to both Raja 
>( the daddy) and Ellie ( the mom).
>
>Of course the fact that I too am a native of Assam and the Assamese 
>language is my mother-tongue, has absolutely nothing to do with my 
>choice :-).