Asit Srivastava/IANS
Lucknow, Sep 6: Here Jayalalithaa takes Bal Thackeray on her lap when he sobs, Manmohan Singh is fond of riding on Mulayam Singh's shoulders, while Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh have no differences and love playing cricket with Giani Zail Singh. The next one to join them could well be Mayawati.
Daily wage labourer Mithai Lal, 45, and his wife Chandrasena, 42, named their seven children after the political leaders due to their belief that this would bring good fortune to the family.
The couple expects one more child later this year and hopes it will be a girl so that it can name her after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
The family lives in Jalalpur town in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar district, some 180 km from Lucknow.
"As I firmly believe names can change one's destiny, I named my six sons and one daughter after popular politicians of the country," Mithai Lal told IANS over phone.
"I have full faith that names would guide my children's future and one day they would become as popular as the politicians," he added.
While 18-year-old Mulayam Singh is the eldest son, the youngest Bal Thackeray is just five months. The others sons -- Kalyan Singh, Giani Zail Singh, Rajnath Singh and Manmohan Singh -- are 16, 15, 13 and five respectively. Jayalalitha, the couple's only daughter, is eight years old.
The eighth child is expected in a few months and the couple hopes it is a girl.
"Despite coming from a Dalit community, but braving all odds, Behenji (Mayawati) emerged as one of the most powerful politicians of the country. We too belong to the Dalit community and want to have a daughter who could make her parents feel proud like Mayawati," said Chandrasena, who came to know she was pregnant again a few days ago.
Like their parents, the children too believe they will be able to achieve big things one day due to their names. "It may come late to us, but I believe all of us will attain popularity similar to that of the politicians," said eldest son Mulayam Singh, who works as a private tutor in his spare hours to augment the family income.
While it remains to be seen whether the children will be able to live up to the names, all of them have become quite popular in the district, and Jalalpur is now known as the town where the "politicians' family" lives.