CHANGING NAMES : A PAIN FOR THE COMMON MAN
CHANGING NAMES : A PAIN FOR THE COMMON MAN
Introduction
It has been 70 years since India has been independent and has seen a lot of action and events in this span . Wars , technological advancements , Olympic medals and more ; India has had a fair dose of all of these. While being a colony in the past many structures, roads and amenities were particularly built by the Europeans . The names have been stuck and have an interesting history and culture behind it. Almost all the cities in India were cantonments and capitals of Provinces and states. Out of the blue , since around 28 years there has been a spurt in changing of names of various places. Be it a road, a city or a railway station many have proposed to change the names.
Types and reasons
The changing of names has various reasons and ways to do so. In our country which has a vast amount of public assets, properties and institutions, the diversity of reasons for changing names is also big. In this article I would try to highlight a few reasons and impacts of nomenclature of various places and institutes. I would try to showcase these with many unknown and known examples. The reaction of the common man would also be portrayed to some extent.
Commercial
In many of the local transport systems as a means of advertisement , the sponsor's name would be featured along with its logo . Many hoardings are put on this station and are related to the companies products . The company for the endorsement pays a sum to the transport authority . It is done as many of the city use this public transport system and would probably notice it as they travel more often to the station and view the new advertisements. Even though this benefits the government which operates the public facility on loss so that the prices remain affordable to some extent , it has its share of demerits.
In Delhi , a metro rail station near IIT Delhi to cater to the students and residents of the area was named "FIIT-JEE IIT DELHI". FIIT-JEE is an institution which coaches students for entrance exams like JEE and NEET. It created a big misunderstanding and the dean objected as the coveted institute for engineering was not related in any way to the coaching company. This controversy affected the opening of the station . Ultimately the name remains but with a disclaimer that IIT-Delhi is not related to FIIT-JEE in any way . This is because the institution did not want to portray that the institute is acquired by a coaching establishment.
The metrorail station in South Delhi
Naming after famous personalities
Be it an airport or a road the areas are not generally known by their official name. Many attractions are colloquially named on their appearance. The famous Marine Drive which is a seaside boulevard is officially named NSC Bose Road which is rarely used as a result many people face problems using Private transport facilities like taxis where the GPS system does not recognise the colloquial name.
Marine Drive,Mumbai
An important railway junction , Mughalsarai junction's name was changed to "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar" junction . The junction has many important trains passing through it and is the fourth busiest station in India.
It would have caused a lot of confusion as the name was changed suddenly. Imagine realising that you missed your station because you could not identify it. It is apparent that it would have created a lot of chaos . The station which was named after an eminent personality could not be identified.
Mughalsarai Jn Uttar Pradesh
Change of town , city names
Colonies had different names and the names were generally in the colonising states language. As independence dawn upon our nation many of the names of various towns and cities were changed to much more legible and recognisable names.
Trichinopoly was changed to Tiruchirapalli,Bombay was changed to Mumbai, Madras was changed to Chennai ,
Bangalore was changed to Bengaluru and many more cities and towns were changed to their names.These places were perhaps renamed after local areas,temples or famous people from the area i.e
Mumbai has an old temple worshipped by the original inhabitants of the region known as Mumbai Devi Temple.
It is after goddess Mumba that Mumbai has been named after this community god.Many people still call Mumbai as Bombay and the name has struck.
Madras has been named to Chennai after the first feudal ruler Chennappa Nayakadu . A reason which acted as a catalyst was that South India was continuously referred as Madras, as the Madras state was the province under most parts of south India were governed. Gradually, Travancore-Cochin and other Malayalam speaking areas were made into Kerala while Kannada speaking parts were merged into Mysore state which was renamed as Karnataka in 1972.
Till date many people refer to South Indians as "Madrasis" which offends them as they are not being recognised correctly.
Unlike the popular stereotype of many Indians that South Indians do not serve in the military , Madras regiment is a highly decorated and respected regiment composing of South Indians which have shown their potential in numerous wars.
The legacy of these names still remains in the Indian Armed Forces:
Madras regiment is one of the oldest regiments in the Indian army and recruits soldiers from South India . It has had as many as seven battalions serving in Sri Lanka in 1987 Civil war and has been loyal.
Bombay sappers or now known as Bombay engineering group is one of the regiments under the corps of engineers which has recently constructed Foot-over bridges in Mumbai. It is a highly decorated regiment.
Also some of the courts in India retain their name showing their history and heritage.
Calcutta high court is the oldest High Court of India. Though the bill to change the name was passed, it still retains its colonial name.
Formerly known as Elphinstone road station, Prabhadevi station traces its name to an extremely ancient temple located in the area . The name of the station was changed less than a month ago.
update: after writing this post the north Indian city Allahabad's name was changed to Prayagraj.
The changing of names has various reasons and ways to do so. In our country which has a vast amount of public assets, properties and institutions, the diversity of reasons for changing names is also big. In this article I would try to highlight a few reasons and impacts of nomenclature of various places and institutes. I would try to showcase these with many unknown and known examples. The reaction of the common man would also be portrayed to some extent.
Commercial
In many of the local transport systems as a means of advertisement , the sponsor's name would be featured along with its logo . Many hoardings are put on this station and are related to the companies products . The company for the endorsement pays a sum to the transport authority . It is done as many of the city use this public transport system and would probably notice it as they travel more often to the station and view the new advertisements. Even though this benefits the government which operates the public facility on loss so that the prices remain affordable to some extent , it has its share of demerits.
In Delhi , a metro rail station near IIT Delhi to cater to the students and residents of the area was named "FIIT-JEE IIT DELHI". FIIT-JEE is an institution which coaches students for entrance exams like JEE and NEET. It created a big misunderstanding and the dean objected as the coveted institute for engineering was not related in any way to the coaching company. This controversy affected the opening of the station . Ultimately the name remains but with a disclaimer that IIT-Delhi is not related to FIIT-JEE in any way . This is because the institution did not want to portray that the institute is acquired by a coaching establishment.
Naming after famous personalities
Be it an airport or a road the areas are not generally known by their official name. Many attractions are colloquially named on their appearance. The famous Marine Drive which is a seaside boulevard is officially named NSC Bose Road which is rarely used as a result many people face problems using Private transport facilities like taxis where the GPS system does not recognise the colloquial name.
An important railway junction , Mughalsarai junction's name was changed to "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar" junction . The junction has many important trains passing through it and is the fourth busiest station in India.
It would have caused a lot of confusion as the name was changed suddenly. Imagine realising that you missed your station because you could not identify it. It is apparent that it would have created a lot of chaos . The station which was named after an eminent personality could not be identified.
Change of town , city names
Colonies had different names and the names were generally in the colonising states language. As independence dawn upon our nation many of the names of various towns and cities were changed to much more legible and recognisable names.
Trichinopoly was changed to Tiruchirapalli,Bombay was changed to Mumbai, Madras was changed to Chennai ,
Bangalore was changed to Bengaluru and many more cities and towns were changed to their names.These places were perhaps renamed after local areas,temples or famous people from the area i.e
Mumbai has an old temple worshipped by the original inhabitants of the region known as Mumbai Devi Temple.
It is after goddess Mumba that Mumbai has been named after this community god.Many people still call Mumbai as Bombay and the name has struck.
Madras has been named to Chennai after the first feudal ruler Chennappa Nayakadu . A reason which acted as a catalyst was that South India was continuously referred as Madras, as the Madras state was the province under most parts of south India were governed. Gradually, Travancore-Cochin and other Malayalam speaking areas were made into Kerala while Kannada speaking parts were merged into Mysore state which was renamed as Karnataka in 1972.
Till date many people refer to South Indians as "Madrasis" which offends them as they are not being recognised correctly.
Unlike the popular stereotype of many Indians that South Indians do not serve in the military , Madras regiment is a highly decorated and respected regiment composing of South Indians which have shown their potential in numerous wars.
The legacy of these names still remains in the Indian Armed Forces:
Madras regiment is one of the oldest regiments in the Indian army and recruits soldiers from South India . It has had as many as seven battalions serving in Sri Lanka in 1987 Civil war and has been loyal.
Bombay sappers or now known as Bombay engineering group is one of the regiments under the corps of engineers which has recently constructed Foot-over bridges in Mumbai. It is a highly decorated regiment.
Also some of the courts in India retain their name showing their history and heritage.
Calcutta high court is the oldest High Court of India. Though the bill to change the name was passed, it still retains its colonial name.
Supposed "Indianisation"
This is quite similar to the previous reason and type but focuses on A more radical approach to wipe out colonial influence. Here the new name may be popular or unknown to a great extent. Particularly in the city of Mumbai which has its stations named after former governors , Since a few years there have been increased propositions of changing names.
Conclusion
Last year there was a stampede in Prabhadevi station where 22 people were killed and more than 40 injured. This happened amidst the decision to change the name of the station. It portrays that while petty things are given great priority , basic facilities amidst these public places and land remain in a state of ignorance. Should such a small thing create riots , confusion or chaos? Should the common man suffer for this ? I leave these questions for you to ponder.
Thank you for reading this article . Please comment below about your opinion along with suggestions for the next topic.
update: after writing this post the north Indian city Allahabad's name was changed to Prayagraj.
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