New names ahoy!!

Orissa is re-named "Odisha" and the language is now to be called "Odiya", screamed the morning newspaper headlines! I just rolled my eyes in utter disgust, and moved on to read the next article. After all it has become an usual affair, what with Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi...The list goes on and I am sure shall keep growing bigger!!

I am amazed at the speed and efficiency shown by our legislators in passing any bill/resolution to make such changes. However bills on crucial issues which effect the basic needs of the common man, take months (sometimes years) to even see the light of day!

I am surprised that our general public which is usually fast at questioning any wasteful government expenditure, prefers to ignore the huge amount of taxpayer's money spent on changing the city name in all official documents, signboards etc.

To top it all, India's secular image is also dented by organizations which claim to be the guardians of the "sons (and daughters) of the soil", and shove the new city names down the throats of all the denizens of the city. I feel more animosity towards the celebrities who too allow themselves to be a victim of all this non-sense, like the widely known recent case of a Hindi Movie producer "apologising" for the "grave mistake" he committed by referring to Mumbai as Bombay (The incident also begs a suspiscion that it was a publicity stunt for the movie by the producer).

I had begun to have some respect for the intelligence of the general public in India. I thought that they had the intelligence to see through the actual schemes of petty politicians, who want to push through such inconsequential "city name changing" exercises for their personal gains. Come on folks, how were the older names of these cities causing any issues to the common man!! Pray, when we have so many issues related to basic amenities yet to be resolved, how can you follow these petty political leaders on such meaningless and wasteful expenditures!!

I also have a very, very genuine grouse on a related but different issue. We call ourselves a country on the path of record breaking growth, and as being the perfect example of the benefits accruing from globalization. However, it is very sad to see that we do not have "internal globalizations"!! How else do you explain e.g. pubic buses in many parts of the country having signboards only in the local language (When the same cities are home to many people from other states who have every legal right to be there, and who in more cases than not have handsomely contributed to the growth of the local economy).....More on this in a separate blog, which is soon to come...

Signing off for now.....

Your comments (bouquets and brickbats) are welcome! :-)