Putting a name in brackets is….

The Brackets Around Our Names

HARISH MONGA

Signing a document at the end of a page or text is an age-old practice meant to validate it at the receiving end. Without a signature, even writing your name can take on different visual styles. Some artistic writers prefer their names on the left side, contrary to the common trend of placing them on the right. Others like to centre their names. Ultimately, it depends on personal preference, regardless of guidelines on writing style.

In official or private documents, names are usually written in brackets below the signature to provide identification. Even Facebook now offers an option to add another name in brackets.

With today’s advanced digital era, you can type any query and instantly receive an answer. Interestingly, when one searches “Don’t put my name” on Google, the suggested completions include “in the end roll,” “in your mouth,” “in vain,” “of God in vain,” and “don’t put dirt on my name.”

In this internet age, with most users online, words in brackets often have technical functionality—interacting directly with your browser to trigger code edits instantly without page reloads, ensuring your current browsing remains unaffected.

Even on Twitter, people have used brackets—three of them—known as “echoes,” as part of an online anti-racist movement. Adding three brackets around one’s name was seen as a gesture of solidarity.

In literature, too, adding a pen name in the last couplet of a ghazal is a respected tradition. For instance:

“Tham jayega ‘Ada’ galtiyon ka yeh silsila,
Zaroori hai ek mulaqat aaine ke saath.”

Here, the poet uses ‘Ada’ to mark his identity, gracefully enclosed within lines.

I am also reminded of a personal experience from my service days. On the day a senior officer joined, his name was written in brackets in an official letter. He gently objected, saying, “Dear, don’t confine me within brackets. I want to be an open book, free to move, express, and give opinions like a flying bird—not imprisoned within official brackets.”

On another occasion, an embarrassing situation arose with an officer designated as Assistant Secretary (Sugar). The failure to put his abbreviated designation in brackets resulted in his title appearing simply as ASS. After more than four decades, I still recall how he pleaded with folded hands before his seniors to ensure his designation was always written as AS(Sugar).

Brackets, it seems, are more than just punctuation—they shape perception, identity, and sometimes, unintended humour.