I intend to die as Suruchi Wagh

“But everyone does it!”– A well-meaning aunty insisted soon after she realized I had not changed my surname after marriage.

The way I saw it, I was born as Suruchi Wagh and I intend to die as Suruchi Wagh as well. On a lighter note – my name has a value and identity of its own. An SEO relevance even!

In our culture, many women change their surnames to their husband’s once they are married. Like this tradition, there could be other traditions that have just become a norm. Traditions that are followed just because “everyone does it”.

And often we all end up following these norms without realizing that we have the option of NOT doing so! That it is completely OK to make a different choice.

Just like I CHOOSE not to take my husband’s name, others may also CHOOSE to take their husband’s name.

Luckily I have never found that NOT sharing a surname with my husband has ever impacted the quality of our relationship For years together I have also dabbled with the idea of inserting my name into my children’s name and I will definitely write about it in case I end up doing so.

In our 1000 Women Leaders Programs too we talk a lot about being true to oneself, being authentic, being unapologetically oneselves, about overcoming internal barriers and being the star of our show. I’m sure many of you can relate to these dilemmas and I would love to hear the choices you have made