What's in a name?

What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

But I, without my label so, would go forth incomplete.

My name holds the stories of many generations before me. 

My name is the past woven in three syllables of poetry. 

My name is a necklace of letters strung together in my mother tongue.

My name is filled with lively notes of tunes my ancestors have sung.

My name carries the promise of brushes painting new worlds. 

My name is the beauty and wisdom hidden inside pearls.

My name honors the women on whose shoulders I do stand.

My name flows over my curves like hills and valleys of the land.

My name is where the dreams of my mother and father meld.

My name is the product of the people by which I am held.

My name floats into my ears like the lyrics of a song.

My name is trained in self defense for when you say it wrong.

My name marks the hazy line between being from here and there.

My name sits yet in empty halls of belonging nowhere.

My name paces between two worlds and cannot pick a side.

My name knows not the path to choose, to stand out or to hide.

My name recounts its younger years and all the taunts it heard.

My name sits in these memories and holds on to every word.

My name shrinks back under the gaze asking why I am here.

My name works so hard to be seen, yet you make it disappear.

My name hangs proudly on family walls, framing every success.

My name toils hard across the years I spent striving to impress.

My name rings out so loud and clear like the sound of my laughter.

My name holds infinite versions of me, the now, before, and after.

My name explodes within your mouth, delectable in its flavor.

My name has hints of sweet and sour memories for us to savor.

My name is bold like the aroma of the spices that they stole.

My name is rich with culture rooted deep within my soul.

My name is a canvas bright with Rani pink and haldi gold.

My name is all the art within me cast into a mold.

My name bounces off the walls as I stand here on this stage.

My name is etched forevermore in the lines across this page. 

My name breathes life into my every limb when I dance.

My name is in the chants from the observers in the stands.

My name is in the base pumping all throughout the club.

My name is more intoxicating than any drink from any pub.

My name echoes with love from friends who make every day bright. 

My name rests softly on the lips of a lover in the night.

My name is thick like revolution swirling in my blood.

My name is radical joy that fills the room up like a flood. 

My name precedes my every call for changes that we need.

My name catches me when I fall from justice as my creed.

My name is my favorite gift, I’ve held it close since birth.

My name envelops the legacy I’ll leave upon this Earth.

My name reminds me who I am and where I’m meant to go.

My name is Ishika Muchhal, and if you don’t know, now you know.