Renaming our cities-loosing international identity

Page

Next Last

raj5000

@raj5000

Sparkler

Posted: 17 years ago

I know old but this topic comes in various conversations, by renaming Bombay to Mumbai

1. has costed the city it's global identity?

2. Was it the right step?

3. What is right to change (city / Airport / railway ) 's name given by (YOU know who? ) ?

One radio host while mentioning this Mumbai/Bombay name change said - "Indian administration is really very thin skin to rename Bombay or other India cities", was it really that or we wanted more adoptability or the name for people living in those cities? Radio host went on giving an example how US never considered changing Boston / New York, where these cities name hold so much heritage. 😛

Any other thoughts on having a good 😃 debate / argueable discussion here.

BTW - Read this article for more details on Mumbai's name change https://www.slate.com/id/2145650/

Edited by raj5000 - 17 years ago

Quote

Frequent Posters

193980

Suspended

Posted: 17 years ago

My views are still the same. I don't see any need to rename cities. What are we achieving by doing that? 😕

Quote

Looks like you are new here. Register for free, learn and contribute.

raj5000

@raj5000

Sparkler

Posted: 17 years ago

Originally posted by: Maya_M

Similar discussion https://india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=465135
My views are still the same. I don't see any need to rename cities. What are we achieving by doing that? 😕

Oh Thanks, I really reciprocate Sowmya views in that post ( quoting her response at the end), regarding changing name good or bad personally, but how is it impacted globally (focus here)? Wern't the politicians thinking global impact before changing names, like a walk in garden😆😊

Originally posted by: sowmyaa
I personally think that calling Bombay to Mumbai just to get the original meaning or it is one of the reason to preserve our culture is the only reason. I think it is more of a ego issue that our culture, our city, our country, should have our name. There is nothing wrong in it, it is considered as a pride. But to me name is not that important. India before independence also had history about Mugal emperor. Like Ahmedadbad comes from Ahmed shah badsha who ruled Ahmedabad so it was not given by britishers. It requires so much effort and useless time to get this one name changed. Despite of changing names many people still call mumbai, calcutta, Madras.... I think my image about Bombay has not changed at all after new name. I am sure there are many out there who least care about names of these cities. Officially it is mumbai on papers and government centers. People have to me careful they don't write Bombay and put mumbai when doing some official work other than that I don't think it is important or useful to any indian. For Ahmedabad political parties have been fighting for over a decade now, and they have taken issue to central now, but it is not easy to get a name changed. I think it is not worth all time and enegery to change names to just preserve our culture. Mumbai to me is still old Bombay I used to visit and it has not lost or gained more to it after name change. But may be it's just me.

Quote

193980

Suspended

Posted: 17 years ago

My views are almost same. I don't think it has made any difference other than some confusing pronunciation. Try saying Thiruvananthapuram for Trivandrum. 😆

Renaming cities is one of the agendas for most political parties. When renaming what is our reference? Till when are we going back in History? If we choose to rename every city then let us start with renaming Ahemdabad to Karnavati. Can we do that? 😛 All hell will break loose. So just few changes here and there to get some votes is futile.

Quote

chal_phek_mat

@chal_phek_mat

Inactive

Posted: 17 years ago

One of our international identity is that we have wild animals running on the streets, so why not empty our Zoo's(I mean the actual Zoo's not our parliament) into our streets. This way we will cater more to the international audience

Since we are talking about Boston, New York etc, those cities are barely 200-300 year old and the people who named them actually have their decendants living in the nation😉Exact opposite scenario of the Indian cities that are being renamed to their local names

The problem isnt with the international public the problem is with the local folks who dont like the change.One of my mentors mentioned people who dislike change are the ones getting greyer hair and you shouldnt worry about them much since they are more likely to die very soon😆

Quote

return_to_hades

@return_to_hades

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 17 years ago

I do not care what the international people think. For me I was born and brought up in Bombay. When the name was changed to Mumbai, whatever cultural or historical egoism that prompted the name change held no significance to me. To me Mumbai took something away from Bombay, something inexplicable that I cannot logically point my finger on. Except when I consciously attempt to be 'correct' I usually refer to places as Bombay, VT, Fountain, King's Circle etc. The name changes are absurd and irrelevant in my world.

I find name changing regressive. But then again perhaps I am part of the old graying generation that refuses change. Unless they come and hardwire my brains to think with new names they can change names all they like. I will stick to what I like. And if people feel that spending time, money and energy to officially change names is something really relevant that needs to be done...power to the people.

Quote

Athena90

@Athena90

Inactive

+ 3

Posted: 17 years ago

Personally, i still call mumbai Bombay; Chennai Madras.

I think this re-naming is more of an ego thing and an inssue of pride showcasing the world we are independent and changing all our names and all. It doesnt seem to make more sense than that to me.

Quote

Deepak Tamang

@SolidSnake

Rocker

Posted: 17 years ago

What is wrong in changing names? I am all for chaging names which were imposed by invaders. Not fair to compare US with India, they have hardly any history compared to us.

Quote

raj5000

@raj5000

Sparkler

Posted: 17 years ago

Originally posted by: return_to_hades
I do not care what the international people think. For me I was born and brought up in Bombay. When the name was changed to Mumbai, whatever cultural or historical egoism that prompted the name change held no significance to me. To me Mumbai took something away from Bombay, something inexplicable that I cannot logically point my finger on. Except when I consciously attempt to be 'correct' I usually refer to places as Bombay, VT, Fountain, King's Circle etc. The name changes are absurd and irrelevant in my world.

I find name changing regressive. But then again perhaps I am part of the old graying generation that refuses change. Unless they come and hardwire my brains to think with new names they can change names all they like. I will stick to what I like. And if people feel that spending time, money and energy to officially change names is something really relevant that needs to be done...power to the people.

Me too Bombay, VT, Fountain, King's Circle etc willl remain as it is, yes for the heck of it I might refer them as changed names but originality still rocks in mind, can't help it ....sorry!! lols.. RTH since you mentioned mention of King Circle reminded me of ride from King Circle to Bandra every day during junior college years.. :) btw I did my junior at National college.... nice to hear someone who know places around where I spent my childhood.

Quote

raj5000

@raj5000

Sparkler

Posted: 17 years ago

#10

Originally posted by: sneha3105
Personally, i still call mumbai Bombay; Chennai Madras.

I think this re-naming is more of an ego thing and an inssue of pride showcasing the world we are independent and changing all our names and all. It doesnt seem to make more sense than that to me.

I felt the same way, but then I thought about adaptibility of these British names by people from rural areas, may be for them these new names were easy to adapt. ... not sure 😕

Quote

1 2 3

Renaming our cities-loosing international identity

Related Topics

Explore Topics