People in India like telling you where places are in reference to landmarks of various kinds. They’ll say the apartment is “near the police station” or “the post office is opposite the Hanuman temple.” Opposite. That’s a word they love using in the direction-giving context. And what’s especially endearing is how they say it: oppojeet. I swear I’m not being condescending; I find it innocently amusing. The best sugar cane juice guy in town? Why, he’s oppojeet the water tower. The must-see statue? You’ve got to look oppojeet the cinema.

I’ve decided to appropriate the word and bring it to America… as the one-day name of my firstborn. I can imagine it now… [cut to year 2038: suburban household in New Jersey] 

I call upstairs, “Oppojeet, my child, come down for dinner!” “No, dad, I’m not going to!!” Oppojeet usually isn’t temperamental, so I’m not sure what’s going on. “Oppu, darling, come down now. Your dal is getting cold!!” “Never!!”

Then, Oppojeet runs down and begins serving himself food. Before I can scold him for his tone of voice, he reveals, “It’s Oppojeet day!”