Name game: 3,626 villages named after Ram, 3,309 after Krishna ... What’s in a name, or two, or 6,77,459? In the case of India’s villages, that list tells us they love gods, goddesses, nation builders and mythologies above all else, and that, when they migrate, they often take the name of their place of origin with them. The Indian Express went through the names of all 6,77,459, inhabited and uninhabited, villages in India, as listed in Census 2011 — data for which was released recently. Lord Ram ranks way up there, with 3,626 villages named after him, in almost all parts of the country except Kerala, while Lord Krishna is a close second at 3,309. ........... Among the Mughal emperors, Akbar tops the list at 234 villages. His grandfather Babur has 62 villages in his name while father Humayun has only 30. Interestingly, while 51 villages are named after Shahjahan, only eight are in the name of Aurangzeb (all in Bijnore district of UP). .... ETC.ETC.... AFTER GOING THROUGH THIS HUGE REPORT, ONE QUESTION THAT IMMEDIATELY CROPS UP IS: HOW ABOUT THE BRITISHERS AND THEIR COLONIAL NAMES ? THEY ALSO RULED INDIA FOR MORE THAN 200 HUNDRED YEARS. DID THEY ALSO LEAVE BEHIND SOME NAMES TO PERPETUATE THEIR MEMORY ?... Yes, they did too. But, lets be fair, they did not force upon the people such changes, to the best of general perception. Yes, for reasons of convenience and the pronunciation, they called Kolkatta as Calcutta, or, Mumbai as Bombay. And, of course, they used their English names for their Own-Built Buildings, Roads, Hospitals, Schools etc.. BUT WHAT DID WE DO? ... In order to establish ourselves as a proud Sovereign and Independent Nation, we changed, and continue to change, many a names, as per our needs and conveniences, such as: Curzon Road changed to: Kasturba Gandhi Marg Kingsway became Rajpath Queensway: Janpath York Road : Motilal Nehru Road Roberts Road: Teen Murti Marg Old Mill Road : Rafi Marg Canning Road :Madhav Rao Sindhia Marg,etc.etc, to name a few.... Similarly, Irwin Hospital became The Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital Wellington Hospital is now: Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, just to name a few. WE REMOVED THE BRITISH LABELS, WHY ? Because they reminded us of our subjugation; Because we did not want to carry the burden of the Slavery, etc.etc.... So, changing names from British to Indian was quite natural. And, perhaps, it hardly mattered to the Britishers. We even removed the Britsh Emblems from one of the most magnificent buildings in the world, Built by Sir Luteyns, NOW CALLED, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Central Secretariat - The North Block and the South Block. And, also perhaps, because we could afford to do it - Changing the British names into the Indian names did not hurt our kind of "Secularism" ? GOD BLESS OUR NATION...............
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 14:53:04 +0000
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