Originally Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu
Originally Posted By: latishya
would the person who called me lat have called gandhiji mo?


on this forum, very likely, yes. in this culture, the shortening of names is usually a sign of familiarity, even affection, and no insult is intended.



and it is normal to do this without asking? Most North Indians have two 'given' names, a legal one and one that is used by family and close friends. It would never occur to me to use the 'intimate' name of someone I did not know well, even if I happened to know it.