What's in a (middle) name?

Nischal's mom has this question as often as there are traffic jams in Bangalore: "Who do you love more? Amma, or Pappa ? "
Nischal mostly tries to be as politically correct as possible. He gives answers like  " I love both of you... ",  "You both are my parents.."  etc. Then his mother presses him repeatedly with threats of kiss storms, and he usually capitulates. This capitulation, however, shouldn't be mistaken for him lying. He's just being moved out of his politically correct stance. Even as a little baby, his eyes would light up when he caught sight of his mother.

Back to the present. Nischal, his mom & I were out to renew our passports. She came up with the same question, and he readily answered 'I love you more, Amma'. Being tortured again - specially within sight of a few other 6-8 year old kids out there was clearly an embarrassment best avoided. But he didn't realize that was just the first step in his wily mom's plot.
"Amma is very sad that none of her boys are carrying her name.. " she continued in a 'poor little me' voice "now that we're getting you a new passport, why don't we change your middle name from 'Natraj' to 'Anupama' ?"
Nischal didn't drop his smile, but remained silent and pretended not to hear. But you could almost hear the gears turning.
I added fuel to the fire "Yes, I think that's not a bad idea! "
Nischal continue to smile, and said "But it will make it difficult at school, no? My work books, class work books .. already have my present name"
FYI: None of his school books have his middle name. They just have his first and last names.
His mom kicked into higher gear "No, that's not a problem. We'll just get fresh labels and fix that problem". She also clapped her hands in glee as if Nischal already agreed " I feel so good Nischal will carry my name. I'll fill up his new name in this form"
I could almost hear the gears shift now.
"No that won't work" he says hurriedly..  buying time.
"Why not? " presses his mom.
"Because ..because... pappa doesn't have his mom's name as his middle name" he blurts.. and he joyfully makes another connection "..and you also. Your middle name is taatha's(grandpa) name - Nagaraj! "
But she wasn't giving up. After all, his mom. "But my mom didn't want me to take her name. So, I didn't take. Now I want you to take my name"
There was even more pretend-glee at display .. she started clapping her hands, and started repeating his name with her name as the middle name. "So, you like 'Nischal Anu' , or 'Nischal Anupama.. ' ? " she asked.
Nischal, still was calm and smiling, but I could see the panic seeping through. He definitely didn't want a 'girl name' stuck to his - notwithstanding the bottomless sea of love he had for his mom.
He repeatedly said 'no ' to all his mom's pleading.
She finally shifted to an oft-repeated song that's usually sung in a crying-baby voice: 'Nobody loves me, everybody hates me..'. There's not much of a tune to it, nor are there any lyrics of note. She's the music composer, lyricist and lead singer of this absurdity,  but it has served her well so far with Nischal.
The song begins, and I realize the circus is going downhill now. The elephants are going to fall off their unicycles, and the monkeys will smash their guitars on the heads of hippos. It was time for me to retreat into a book, or a game, or even plead with a kind tortoise with extra room.

Amazingly enough, the trick works. He concedes " I'll have both papa's and your name as my middle name".
Not knowing when to quit, the mom switches to aggressive, and pity-raising mode every 2 minutes.

This goes on until Nischal manages to see the form, and his name. He breaks into a grin that pretty much says "So much for your drama.!"
Just then, our number gets called, and we hustle onto the booth. He also does a double check just before the form is submitted.
I for one, am glad we won't be visiting the passport office for a few years.

Edit: You'd think the mom would let it go. But, No. She brought it up again in a couple of days. Nischal - being her own flesh and blood - was prepared: "Actually, Anna(older brother) should change his middle name to yours. His name is Avaneesh, and 'Avaneesh Anupama Gujran' matches well, just like 'Nischal Natraj Gujran' matches.
Not only was the mom left speechless, the older brother had a perfect 'deer in the headlights' look.