Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and Kamala Harris - all prefer, even promote, anglicised pronunciations of their names.

Sunak is pronounced “soo-nuk”.
Priti isn’t “pretty”, but “pree-thi”
Kamala is “kuhm-la”

My view is that this digging into this can help explain their success.

1/5

Ever heard or associated with the (patronising and incorrect) maxim that women who wish to succeed, would find it easier if they behaved more like men? Be arrogant, confident, brutish, dominant?

Same goes for Indian people. To succeed, we must be more “white”.

2/5

Indian languages are phonetic; discarding the original pronunciation also destroys the beautiful meaning behind most names, eg, Priti (when pronounced correctly) means the “joy of love”.

3/5

In rejecting the original pronunciations of their names, Rishi, Priti & Kamala have indicated that their identity (in this case, their name) is secondary to the social pressure to conform.

This says a LOT about their leadership abilities. They are afraid to be contrarian.

4/5

By effect, this likely means that their lust for power exceeds their desire to be conscientious; their need to please their supporters exceeds their desire to better the world.

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This hypothesis holds up from observation, I think.

5/5