So Bangalore is not going to be Bangalore anymore! What I mean is that the city is going to be changing it’s name to *shudders* Bengaluru *horrors* :-(
And why? Because the old name, Bangalore, represents the city’s colonial history, and Bengaluru represents the real Kannada history. Horse-cr*p.
I recently was in Kolkata for a marriage and while travelling it’s road, was amazed at the names of the streets there and absolutely loved it. Names like “Hungerford Street”, “Ho Chi Minh Sarai” etc, gave it an amazing flavor and rememebrance of the time when it was under British Rule. :-)
It’s one fact that the colonial occupation of India was not a well-liked, but it’s another fact to try and ignore it, forget about it by erasing it’s influences, it’s vestiges. It was, in my opinion one of the most important periods in the history of our country and one which has left an impression, an effect forever.
Though I am not in support of the name change, I unfortunately am disappointed in it and would much prefer the old name Bangalore!
Edit:
Bangalored, the word itself means to lose one’s job, get laid off, and have the job outsourced, mostly to Bangalore due to it’s extreme popularity as a global IT outsourcing center.
I was recently returning from work and I noticed a car with it’s rear licence plate carrying a message. Being dark, initially guessed it to be one of the “Jesus Saves”, “God is Great” slogans and paid no attention to it. But co-incidentally, I happened to stop behind the same car. At that point, being in better light, I could clearly read the plate. It said,
Alumni
Ka 04 MM 6606
University of Illinois
Now come on! Alright so you have studied abroad, studied in University of Illinoi !!(I will assume the guy was referring to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign since it is one of the top universities in the US)
SO? You are not the first one nor are you going to be the last one.
But he (Again I assume it was a guy) is not the only one to do this. I have come across numerous relatives who are solely referred to as “he is the one who did his engineering in the US”, or “he is the one who is married and settled in the US” and it irritates me to no end. Why is studying abroad, more particularly in the US considered some sort of nirvana, something which if one does, he immediately rises up in the eyes of all around him. Just to stress on the the opposite, the CAT for the Indian Institute of Managements and various other management exams, the JEE for the Indian Institute of Technology, the GATE for Post Graduate studies in India are _much_ more tougher than the Sats and the Gmat/Gre.
Bah!
Note: I plan to pursue my Master’s degree in Business in the US for reasons which I will not go into here since it would seem like defensive excuse giving which I don’t want to or have to. I only state what I felt about the person in the car with the alumni plates. But that said, I take pride in my country and what it has to offer! :-)
Thus speaketh