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Rabble Rousing Random Ramblings by S Jagadish is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Inspired by the spelling correction name change of Bangalore to Bengaluru, it is reliably learnt that one of Australia's most famous symbols, the Kangaroo has applied for a name change.
Apparently the Kangaroo wants to call itself the Kangar.
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Bangalore's name change is official now
It is now official. With effect from November 1 2006, the word Bangalore will cease to exist in all official correspondence.
The question though is if it be Bengaluru or Bengalooru? Is the use of 'u' the clincher? I think they should just call it TCFKAB, i.e. The City Formerly Known As Bangalore.
The process will take some time. Will other places in Karnataka also be subject to this exercise? Is this decision as culturally significant as it is made out to be? Basically, do you care a f@(k? Sorry for the usage of the profanity, but I really think this is a ridiculous decision.
Does this name change mean some other city in India can change its name to Bangalore and attract investment? Or does this name change mean Bangalore Bengaluru Bengalooru Bengalooroo TCFKAB will get investment worth trillions of dollars and be transformed into Singapore within the space of a decade?
Labels: bangalore, chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, renaming
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Bangalore name change very much on the cards
The process of getting Bangalore renamed to Bengaluru has been kicked off now. Apparently the Chief Minister has instructed all official correspondence to drop the Anglicised form and use Bengaluru instead.
Another one goes down the drain. Hang on, not if it is a drain in Bangalore. They're all clogged. Doesn't that kind of hint at what the government should be more concerned about?
So, if you do live in Bangalore, would you actually like to refer to the place as Bangalore or Bengaluru or Bengalooru? I'll pick the first option - Bangalore. Your turn!
Labels: bangalore, karnataka, renaming
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The Karnataka Government is currently coming up with its action plan to celebrate fifty years of the state's existence (as Karnataka).
One of the suggestions, given by noted Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy was to rename Bangalore as Bengaluru as part of the celebrations.
Why on earth would anyone suggest this, if not to rake up a Bangalore v/s the rest of Karnataka issue yet again? Why didn't he suggest renaming Mysore to Maisuru, or even pertinently to Mahishasuru or something like that? The city provides a rare instance of getting its name from a Hindu mythological demon, Mahishasura, slayed by Durga.
What next? Renaming important roads? Brigade Road to what? Old Madras Chennai Road to what? Perhaps rename Airport Road using the Kannada word for Airport?
Has renaming cities actually done any good? Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram, Calcutta to Kolkota, Calicut to Kozhikode, Cochin to Kochi, Pondicherry to Puducheri etc. Has any of these cities seen better living conditions, infrastructure, employment opportunities, lesser riots/chaos etc. because of the name change? Do the people of those cities necessarily feel better because of the name change? Does having the city named in the local language, as opposed to having British, French or Portugese influences in the name, make them feel proud about living there?
I venture to hazard a guess. No. I can certainly speak for myself. I couldn't see any difference between living in Madras or Chennai. I couldn't understand what the name change meant to peoples' daily lives. Unless threatened at gunpoint, and except in moments of weakness, I continue to refer to the city as Madras. Ditto when I refer to Calcutta or Bombay.
So what would be gained by renaming Bangalore as Bengaluru or perhaps even Bendha kaluru, given that the apocryphal story about the place's name. Is this paranoia at work again?
Labels: bangalore, chauvinism, kannada, karnataka, renaming
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