And to Eliot: How do you know both names maintained their original heritage? Actually, as my understanding, Buddha origined from the Acient Indian word : बुद्ध When the religion speaded to the Western World, you people gave it a the name: Buddha.... It's not the Buddha that is inheriting the essential meaning. It's the meaning doesn't change itself, when it is called differently in another culture... So as the same of Jesus... Then, what's the matter if a Chinese guy use/have both a Chinese name and a English name? Does it change the nature of who he is?

And to sashiraj again, The name 耶稣 is the Chinicized name of Jesus... And regarding the Buddha, we call it 佛 here, and though it's origined from Acient India, yet with thousands of years' development here in China, it's kind of become to a part of our own nature and we have our own way to interprete the Buddhism... Yet, that's another long story... So back to the topic... Here in China, we learn English, merely because we need/want/intrested in it, it's not like some sort of honor to learn English......no offense.. And here also, any educated Chinese can at least communcate with English speakers with no big problem... Yet, as I'd ever been to India, I know it's far from the fact that you said a large proportion of Indian can speak English... I'd been in Mumbai, New Delhi, Angra, and had hired a driver/car from a car renting company, drove me to several places around northen India... My feeling is, if your words is true... Then I'd have to say, it true that "anyone from India who has had a decent education would have a fair command over english".... Just on the other hand, it seems the education work out there in India, need to be seriously strenthened...

Because it is cool.

To sid, I don't think the name discussion should go up to such a higher stage representing a country's culture.. On the contrary, I do feel like if one's holding up that tight onto a trivial like this, gives others the impression that the man is not so confident about their culture... Everyone should have the sense of honor to his own culture, yet that proud should be deeply hold into his heart, into his conscience to remind him to behave noble to bring honor to his motherland and to gain reputation to his race... not to nitpick on pointless things to make everything comlex... personally, I think, I'm learning English, then I should learn it well, and I think it's right to present myself in a way that they can understand with their culture... not only a name, I eat western food with forks and knives, I sometimes ware in western style... I use pen instead of brush, that doesn't mean I've forgoten my own culture.... here, even Buddha is a English name, and Jesus has a Chinese name, does that mean people not feeling proud to them, fo course not, that means monks/missionaries had spreaded the GOD's glory to far lands :) have fun...

I do am proud of my Chinese name, and actually I do am proud of the profound Chinese heritage... Yet, meanwhile, I'm also enjoying a easy way in communicating, and by the way, to get a good/appropriate English name is part of your study in that languages... and believe me, it's not that difficult to find yourself a suitable English name... And if you are THAT proud of your heritage, why don't you just use Indian to talk with anybody, including the foreigners? and do bother to teach them Indian... Apparently, that's not doable, isn't it?