Cal (given name)
Cal is a masculine given name or a shortened form of a given name (usually Calvin). It may refer to:
Cal
Short for Calvin
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily. For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos (beautiful), or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."
Notable people with the surname include:
Cal (novel)
Cal is a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty, detailing the experiences of a young Irish Catholic involved with the IRA.
Plot summary
One of the major themes of the novel is the way in which the title character attempts to come to terms with taking part in the murder of a reserve police officer by his friend Crilly, an operation for which he was the getaway driver, while at the same time trying to fend off the anti-Republican "Orangemen". To make matters worse, Cal finds himself falling in love with the slain man's wife, Marcella.
Cal lacks self-esteem, one source of which is the death of his mother, who held him in high regard; following her death, Cal seems to be only capable of thinking of himself in a bad light. Another factor adding to Cal's initial unhappiness is being a Catholic on a mainly Protestant estate and being part of the minority in Northern Ireland.
He is afraid of Crilly, his friend from school who is a bully, who works for the IRA and uses Cal as a driver. Cal chooses not to follow his father's line of work as he cannot stand the smell of the abattoir. This contributes to, in the general opinion, his feeling of weakness and inferiority.
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany; /ˈroʊməni/, /ˈrɒ-/), or Roma, are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas, who originate from the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, specifically from Northern India, presumably from the northwestern Indian states Rajasthan,Haryana and Punjab. The Romani are widely known among English-speaking people by the exonym and racial slur "Gypsies" (or "Gipsies"), which, according to many Romani people, connotes illegality and irregularity. Other exonyms are Ashkali and Sinti.
Romani are dispersed, with their concentrated populations in Europe — especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe including Turkey, Spain and Southern France. They originated in Northern India and arrived in Mid-West Asia, then Europe, around 1,000 years ago, either separating from the Dom people or, at least, having a similar history; the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left North India sometime between the sixth and eleventh century.
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