What's in a name..?!

Shakespeare asked a question,

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet."

                                                                               --From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2).

William Shakespeare

If the rose were to be called by some other name would it lose its fragrance? We Indians in the post-independent era seem to be obsessed with changing names of towns and streets. We feel we are reverting back to the original name of a place. It is the tendency of the most of the rulers to give the name of their choice to their country and to the capital city.

The city of Delhi stands on seven pre-historic cities with different names in different ages and under different rulers. Once upon a time it was called Indraprastha. The city has been in existence since the time of Mahabharatha war. Similarly, the present day Kolkata was a small village on the banks of Hooghly river called "Kalighat". The Britishers, who founded their new capital city anglicised it and called it "Calcutta". The present day Bengalis, who have always called it "Kolkata" have made it the official name. But the international cartographers have refused to make any change in their maps, because Indian's penchant for changing names is difficult to keep pace with.

Calcutta (circa. 1850)

Similarly, the British mispronounced the names of these towns Baroda, Bombay and Poona, which have now become Vadodara, Mumbai and Pune. The Sanskrit name for the present day Peshawar was Purushapura. Unfortunately, the government of Burma chose to call itself Myanmar. The word "Burma" was a diluted version of the sanskrit word Brahmadesha. At one time Cambodia was called by the Sanskrit name Kamarup.

Old Madras Railway Station

In south-India the famous city of Madras, named by the Britishers after the Madrasas there has become "Chennai", which is the shortened version of the old name "Channapatnam". Now there is a move to change the name of Bangalore to Bengaluur, which came from the original name "Bendakaluuru", which meant boiled-beans. Trivandrum has been changed to the Tongue twisting word Thiruvananthapuram and the hill station "ooty" has become "udagamandalam"(where the rain-bearing clouds take their birth). For the British and the outsiders it will always remain Bangalore, whereas the natives have always called it Bengaluru. Inspite of all the changes Indians and foreigners continue to call these cities by their anglicised names like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Delhi.

Some times history plays truant with place-names. When Tippu-Sultan was ruling Mysore state,

Tipu Sultan

he extensively renamed the towns in the islamic fashion. For example, Mysore city was called Nazarbad. Later the Wodeyars of Mysore renamed it as Mysore, but a suburb in Mysore is still called "Nazarbad". The Bangalore city has seen the disappearance of English names. In the heart of the city, near the Bangalore city corporation was Hudson circle. The Kannada enthusiasts changed the name of the circle to Kittur rani chennamma circle without bothering to find out about the antecedants of Rev. Fr.Hudson. It is an irony that Rev.Fr.Hudson is the first man to write a Kannada grammar book in English. One of the Important British town-planner, whose name had been given to the area near M.G.Road, Richmond town has been changed to Shanthalanagar, the Hoysala queen of 10th Century. Some old people still call M.G.Road by its old name Parade Grounds. The moot question is by changing names of towns and streets can we erase pages from the history books. Today in Bangalore metropolis there is a plethora of streets, suburbs and circles named after Kuvempu (National Poet-K.V.Puttappa) often leading to a large scale confusion by this excessive repetition.

C.D.Narasimaiah

The well known English Professor Padmabushana C.D.Narasimaiah used to joke about his name as being the last remnants of closepet, his birth place. What was Ramanagara was changed by the then Maharaja to closepet to appease a British resident named close. After independence it was changed to Ramanagara, but some southern railway official in Madras in the true Tamil fashion added an 'M' and made Ramanagara into Ramanagaram. The railway station calls this town by the name of Ramanagaram. In karnataka, We have Ripponpet in Shivamoga district named after Lord Rippon, Viceroy of India and Dobbespet near Bangalore is named after a British resident. Nobody has yet thought of changing these names. I do not know what India will be called one-day in future? why not revert it to it's old name Bharatha or Bharathavarsha or Bharathakanda?

The Impact of British Colonial Rule on India

Colonial Merchant Ships

In this short essay I do not propose to discuss the historical developments pertaining to British rule. Instead i wish to discuss it's psychological impact on the Indian people. During the last 5,000 years India has been invaded by Aryans, Greeks, Huns, the nomads of central Asia, Muslims and European Christians. All the earlier invaders gradually got assimilated into Indian society. They also brought along with them their language, culture, architecture and food habits. They became indianised in due course.

The British were the last to arrive in the European succession game. The Portugal were led by Vasco-da-Gama, then the Dutch and the French followed. In the power game it was the British through East-India Company, who captured power. They slowly expanded their empire with the help of Indian soldiers. Indians joined the East-India company army solely for the reason they recieved salary on first of every month, which no other Indian king was doing.

The British rule lasted 150 years and their main idealogy was to resist indianisation and complete assimilation into Indian society. Initially in 18th century they went native and called themselves nabobs. They dressed like indians, ate indian food and married indian women and lived in Indian style houses. After the abolition of the East-India company rule they chose to build Europeanised cantonments away from the crowded Indian cities. Here they lived in spatious British bungaloes in grand isolation and the local 'white's only' gymkhana clubs became their cultural centres. Even in this tropical climate they struck to European mode of dressing in early 20th century. Most of them never bothered to learn any Indian language properly. Their Hindi was often good enough for their servants and cooks.

Old Steam Engine at Nagpur Station

The main-stream Indian society respected and feared the white rulers. The British travelled through India in seperate "European's only" first-class railway carriages. They had seperate waiting rooms in most of the major Railway stations. They also came to establish elite schools for their children. In most of the movie halls the balcony was reserved for the white's and the local maharaja. Their major passion during late 19th and early 20the century appears to be hunting animals and birds in Indian Jungles. Because of them and our Maharajahs the Indian Cheethah completely became extinct. The population of Tigers, Lions and Elephants came down because of extensive hunting. In the entrance of Bharatpur bird sanctuary there is a marble plaque which gives the individual count of birds killed by V.I.P's on the day prince of wales visited the bird's sanctuary.

The British rule introduced European education in India. The knowledge of English was essential to get a job in the British bureaucracy, in the British trading firms and of course in the British army at the officer's level. Many noble concepts like parliamentary democracy, the European scientific ideas, industrialisation and

Srinivasa Ramanujam

liberal human philosophy percolated into Indian Psyche. But we cannot ignore the negative aspects of the colonial rule. The Christian missionaries were busy ridiculing Hindu religion. They tried to project christianity as a superior religion and with economic incentives they converted the poor Indians into christianity. In the British schools and colleges they thought Indian students to accept European Science and culture as being superior to everything Indian. They were made to think before the coming of the Europeans India was a primitive and barbaric land with outlandish ideas. Indians came to be ashamed of their own religion, language, culture, food habits and in general their life style. They were made to forget their gloriuos history. The Indian Scientific achievments were not even mentioned in the foot-notes of European science books. When Indian Scientists like Sir.C.V.Raman, Jagadish Chandra Bose and S.N.Bose could prove that they were as good as European Scientists. The great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam proved himself as being in the words of C.P.Snow "belonged to the Bradman class..", undoubtedly revived the great Indian mathematical tradition.

Young Gandhi back from Africa

The in-built inferiority complex was the hallmark of the bulk of the population till Mahatma Gandhi came on the scene. Most of the people automatically revered a white man or a woman, looked upon them as a super race. The majority of Indian students who went to England for higher studies were at first profoundly shocked in seeing white men and women doing menial jobs in England. The people in India, even after 50 years of Independence have not been able to achieve intellectual independence. Even today the average Indian goes ga-ga over western dress, gadgets ,automobiles, food and wine, perfumes and last but not the least the western music. It has become the desire of an average Indian boy or girl to look like a European . These brown complexioned youth look strange and exotic, when their hair is dyed either blonde or brunette depending on the fashion. They want to imitate the American accent without knowing the rudiments of English grammar. The western consumer society has arrived in India. Extensive borrowings on one's credit card to lead an expensive highlife appears to be an achievment of sorts. The Indian pop music groups belt out terrible hindi lyrics devoid of melody and harmony in fake western accents. Some 25 years ago the Hindi film music was composed by top music directors like Naushad and Madan Mohan. The songs were written by great poets like sahir ludhiani and others.

The intellectual and spiritual slavery giving rise to an inferiority complex shows the moral bankrupcty of the nation. This can be eradicated only through proper value based education. At present a degraded educational system is catering to the needs of millions of young men and women. They are coming out of Indian Universities in total ignorance of their cultural history, classical music, dance, literature and Indian science. This degenerate and denatured generation has become like putty in the hands of western manipulators. It has become the dream of an average Indian to either go abroad and settle down and if this is not possible and live like a wog (westernised oriental gentleman) in India. That is why there are no takers for Indian classical music and dance. For these people Hindu religion is nothing but a series of festivals meant to be enjoyed. The serious aspects of Hindu philosophy escape their notice. How can anybody be termed educated, if they do not even have a nodding acquaintance of Indian literature in a regional language. No amount of Harry Potter, Ludlum or Forsyth is no substitute for true Indian literature which mirrors Indian life. A nation, which is not proud of itself and forgets its own roots is destined to become a desolate desert, which is nothing but a dumping yard for International cultural garbage.

The Pleasure of re-reading a Great Book

You may consider me a bit old-fashioned for being wary of new titles and new authors. All the media hype surrounding the launching of a new novel by a new writer does not excite me. I am not even impressed by the huge sums of money paid to the new author for his/her maiden publication and the inevitable non-descript awards that follow them. Often a newly launched book turns out to be an utter disappointment and at the end you regret you have wasted your precious time. It is more like a gamble, a new book may satisfy you or not, despite good or bad reviews.

So, I play it safe by re-reading the books i have enjoyed reading them in the past. No matter

Paintin' the fence...!

how many times i pick up Mark Twain's "Tom-Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn" they never fail to invigorate my mind and heart. How delicious it is to get lost in the world of Mark Twain and what a pleasure it is to go down the Mississippi river on a raft along with Jim and Huck sharing their adventures. Another 19th Century novel of Gustav Flaubert "Madame Bovary" does not seem to age with the passage of time. Aren't we all vain-glorious like Madame Bovary who goes through life seeking romance and adventure. She wants to escape from the monotony of small time life and a dull boring husband. Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" is so full of flesh and blood, it is difficult to believe it is a work of fiction. This drama of adultery so sensitively portrayed is still played out all around us in the most banalled fashion. How can anybody be bored with the

A Tale of Two Cities

gregarious and tragi-comic world of Charles Dickens? His novels "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations", "David Copperfield", "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Pickwick Papers" can infuse us with new energy and passion for life. The great 19th century novels like Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", George Elliot's "Emma" or "Silas Marner" remind us that the world has not changed in the last 150 years. The Agonizingly pessimistic novels of Thomas Hardy such as "Jude the Obscure", "Mayor of Casterbury Bridge" and "Tess" can never disappoint us.

Once a well known critic described 'Mahabharata' as mother of all texts. There is a text within a text and within a text. The story of Mahabharata is complex, Sophisticated and intriguing. The moral questions raised within the context of the story are relevant even today. In all great literature the forces of good

Ernest Hemingway

confront evil and at least in literature if not in real life good triumphs over evil. The great Shakespearean Plays like Hamlet, King Lear, Julius Caesar  Othello and Macbeth can never ever be fully understood. A re-reading of the text throws up new meanings and leave room for new interpretations. After re-reading Steinbeck, Hemingway, Victor Hugo and Gabriel Garcia Marquez  who wants to read the latest bestseller. Re-reading great poetry of Wordsworth, Keats, Thomas Gray or Donne is a trip down the nostalgic lane. Great poetry simply ennobles the soul and the mind. What a pleasure it is to re-read Keats's "Ode to a nightingale" or Wordsworth's "Prelude". Hence i prefer to keep the company of my old friends rather than take the risk of making new friends not knowing what you are letting into yourself. On any given day the essays of Francis Bacon, Addison, Steele, Lamb, A.G.Gardner and G.K.Chesterton gives a eternal joy and pleasure to one's mind and heart. The play's of Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde  Shaw, Synge and Beckett keeps opening new doors of human experience. I always suggest instead of buying a new book, You can always re-read a great book you have enjoyed very much.