The Name-Calling Practice

Mirabai called to Krishna by countless names—Hari, Govind, Mohan—each name a different facet of longing and intimacy. This practice of name-calling created a direct, unmediated conversation with the divine. On grief anniversaries, borrowing this practice means speaking aloud the name of who you've lost, repeatedly, tenderly, intensely. Say their name without explanation. Write it. Sing it. Let the repetition become a form of devotion, a way of calling them back into presence through sound and breath. The name becomes a portal, a way to collapse time and touch what anniversary dates make acutely absent. This is not about denial; it is about using language as a devotional technology to honor the bond that persists across the boundary of death.