Resistance is a motherfucker… Welcome back, and if it’s your first time, welcome also! The 9x Blog enters its second episode, today, as the title suggests, I look at what’s in a name? More succinctly, what’s in the name’s that I go by!
As a British Asian man, I am always asked to something to effect of: “You’re Indian/Asian, why is your name Steven!?”, well, fucko, I didn’t name myself did I? (Well not my government name anyway), To sound both facetious yet satirical; I like to reply: “Because my parents wanted to give me a better chance in life!” It’s a silly retort, but I like it, and truth be told, most people are left thinking: “wtf!?” rather than: “that’s really witty, you’re so cool!”, fuck ‘em, as the adage goes: ask a stupid question, and expect a stupid response!
For those of you that are legitimately curios, the story as my brother tells me, is that I was destined to be named the much more Indian sounding: Jeevan. Jeevan, I have just read, means ‘life’ or ‘bringer of life’, so etymologically, it is a pretty cool name, but, still, NAH! I Digress, nevertheless, it was an intervention from my brother, who suggested that I should be called Steven, and the rest is history as they say! If you wanna get the lowdown on the name Steven, you can do so here:
It’s fascinating to say the least! While we’re on the subject, my surname is Rao; pronounced Tao (Tao te Ching, Taoism etc) with an ‘R’, as if we were having a row, comprende?
The aim of this edition however was not really to comment about my ‘name’, to the contrary, it was to elaborate on a name that I also get questioned routinely on: ‘Aragami’ (which I did name myself just for the record), and then about the name/word ‘Ronin’, which more in the ideological, than literal sense, I have adopted also.
It was May of 2008, I was still 17, finishing out the last year of sixth form; I had rediscovered a love of martial arts, and I had an unhealthy obsession with the movies in particular, so many of my evenings were spent downloading the most obscure fight filled flicks! IMDB can lead you down a series of rabbit holes, much like how Wikipedia can, and before you know it, you have a series of tabs of movies open; one of which was a film called: ‘Aragami’. I will preface by saying firstly, that this is not going to be a review of the movie Aragami, that will be saved for another day! But the gist (and what drew me toward the movie) was that a pair of samurai stumble across a desolate cave in a last ditch bid to find some aid, as both men were brutally wounded following a battle. A strange man and almost undead woman occupy the dwelling and offer the men sanctuary. Only one survives however, and the samurai who lives engages in the session of sessions with a man who turns out to be a seemingly immortal Musashi Miyamoto! The film incredibly centre’s around just 4 actors set inside of just one room; from what I recall off the top of my head, the director was engaged in a bet/challenge with another direct, to see who could direct a film using just 4 actors and one setting in the space of 24 hours or something like that; trust me, when I drop the full review, I’ll have all the facts to hand!
Nonetheless, the Musashi character, played by the underrated Masasyo Kato, also goes by another name, if you haven’t guessed it already, the name is: ARAGAMI! Despite the film consisting entirely of just a long dialogue, 2 men eating and fighting, I was completely and utterly captivated, I’m not gonna lie, and from there I adopted the name as my own when it came to my first email address (the best is when prospective employers read my email address back out to me lol), and then my first social media handle which was my Twitter, and later my Instagram name. The English translation of the name, at least what the movies says anyway, is Raging God of Battle, but more likely, it is just God of Battle, or God of War.
You can get familiarise yourself with the movie from IMDB page:
You’re probably thinking: “so you think you’re a God, a God of war nonetheless!?”, the short answer is, “No”, quite simply, it’s just a cool name that has stuck, and now 11 years after adopting it, why the hell am I going to change it? It also served as the name that was able to fold into my old blog: ‘Origami with Aragami” (you see what I did there?). Speaking of the idea of a man thinking he’s a ‘God’ in a capacity; as a staunch monotheist, I have no desire in entertaining the notion that man himself can become anything God like. I am of belief, that yes, we are made in the image of our creator, and therein, we too, have the ability to create; in fact, I look at ‘creativity’ as the closest thing a male has to creating life, but nothing less, and damn sure, nothing more. Theology, however, is another discussion for another date!
This brings me onto the latest title I have used prominently since the summer: Ronin. Ronin is a term which originated from feudal Japan, meaning: ‘wanderer’ or ‘drifter’; alluding to a master-less samurai, or a samurai without a master, deepening on your syntax. Of course, I do not think of myself as someone whom has a ‘master’, unless it’s God himself, and I sure as hell don’t think I’m a ‘Samurai’ or a ‘Bushi’ if we are speaking actually. To the contrary, it is the state of mind that this represents for me which I gravitate toward and resonate with however. The idea of not being bound by: your occupation, your skin colour, your size, your mistakes, your appropriation of culture, your postcode, your city, the silent doctrines imposed by society, whatever statement you wish to make; adopting the Ronin State of Mind, is to walk the path less trodden, to commit yourself to authenticity and sincerity, to be singular in your focus, to pursue your purpose, to lead by your own example! This is why I use the term Ronin, and this to me is the Ronin State of Mind. Call it stoic, call it self serving, call it extreme, call it whatever the hell you want; nonetheless, life to me is something entirely singular, something that you are most definitely doing on your own. Of course, there are people you can share your experience with, enjoy the walking on the road of life together with; this isn’t about being a loner per se! But as cliched as it sounds, but it is only you on that bed of death when your number is called, the notion of the ‘Ronin’ path always remains aligned with this notion, and to the contrary, rather than foster a sense of morbidity, this ideal in fact gives you a truer appreciation for your existentialism! Not only that, however, for those of you who know me personally, know that in many aspects of my life, I march to beat of my own drum, and as I ‘level up’ in my life, I will be a nomad, I have no doubt about that; picking up and leaving and the drop of a hat, digitally manoeuvring with my life, all likely by myself as well!
If you wanna know more about the “proper” historical and contextual use of the term, you can do so here:
Many of these topics, I shall elaborate with greater detail on another date; I didn’t want to convolute this entry too much, however, I hope that this sheds a bit of light on what the names are about, and more about what I’m about too (yes, I realise I used the word about, some 3 times in that same sentence!). If this entry doesn’t read so great, or feels a tad rushed, I do apologise, I did start it last week, however other writing assignments, time, battling a virus have led me to rush this somewhat; however, at this current juncture, it’s more productivity, than a perfect a product which I am striving for as I get the grooves greased to make writing a matter of habbit again, rather than a matter of feeling. Apologies, also for the 2 week turnaround on posts; I promise much more content is coming to the 9x site! If you aren’t following me on Twitter or IG, you should do; NOW! The handles are @aragami9x on both platforms.
To conclude, I’ll leave you with this, make of it what you will:
“An irony of life, being too busy procrastinating…”
Goodnight, and God bless you all;
Steven
#RONIN #RoninStateOfMind #OSU #Aragami
The 9x Blog 