Shakuntala

I first heard an American pronounce it SHAH-kont-TAH-LAH and it was horrible. Then I met a, I assume her to be Indian but I can never be certain, woman whose name was Shakuntala. It's unfortunate because she was pleasant and the mythology is beautiful. However, the fact is, she pronounced it SHA-kun-Tlah, which, if it is the true Indian pronunciation, makes it funny in all the wrong, unfortunate ways. It's a shame, because it looks beautiful written down in both the Roman and Sanskrit alphabets, and I find the meaning and history lovely. It's just an unfortunate sound from a Western perspective.

Also, as I understand, Shakunta (शकुन्त) is pronounced shai-KOONT, not quite an embarrassing word, but very close. It almost sounds like someone mispronouncing 'shy.. (well...)'. It should be lovely. It's just a shame. Also, why are people commenting that it was the name of the day? No need, really.