Yearning for eternity? Hit the road!

Yearning for eternity? Hit the road!
Deccan Herald

Bangaloreans with clout have a penchant for using their influence to name roads, circles, parks and even localities after living persons. But not everybody seems to be happy about public places being named after living persons.

Bangaloreans with clout have a penchant for using their influence to name roads, circles, parks and even localities after living persons. But not everybody seems to be happy about public places being named after living persons.

While people do not mind naming of public places after people with achievements, many feel that naming roads, especially after living politicians, is not appropriate.

When Bangalore passed into the hands of the Wodeyars, a road was renamed after a great personality. The Fort Main Road was renamed after Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar. Now, it is better known as KR Road.

Renaming frenzy

Until the demise of Mangalam Chinnaswamy, the cricket stadium (M Chinnaswamy Stadium) of Karnataka State Cricket Association had the distinction of being the only stadium in the world to be named after a living person.

A park near South End Circle named by BMP after N Lakshman Rau, an outstanding bureaucrat, and a road after Nittoor Srinivas Rau, a legal luminary, were both accepted by the people with great approval.

A locality on Bangalore outskirts, named as Hegde Nagar during former Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde’ lifetime, came under criticism. The Rajajinagar Link Road has been named after Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj and a prominent road has been named after doyen of Kannada cinema, Rajkumar.

The road linking Sultanpet to Dinnur Main Road along the MEG campus once called Kabir Ashram Road is now renamed as Deve Gowda Road, after the former Prime Minister. On the contrary, a road has yet to be named after R Gundu Rao, former chief minister. R Gundu Rao Mithra Koota, Bangalore has appealed to the State Government and the BMP to name any building, road or circle after him as a mark of respect to the leader who died 13 years ago on August 22.

More proposals

Koota Secretary D S Nawaz has suggested the naming of Bellary Road stretch from Devanahalli to Bangalore after Gundu Rao, on which he frequently traversed and his last journey too was taken on this stretch.

Chief Minister Dharam Singh, at a condolence meeting, recently suggested that the BMP should name a road after the late economist Dr D M Nanjundappa. There was a proposal to rename Queen’s Road as C K Jaffer Sharief Road, Congress leader and former Union Railway Minister. Apparently it did not materialise.

Dr Suryanath U Kamath, historian and former Chief Editor, Karnataka Gazetteer, recalls that when the road in Basavanagudi was named as DVG Road after D V Gundappa, well-known Kannada litterateur, he was aghast and protested as to how a road could be named after him. “This is the attitude of great people”, he says.

Unanimous approval

Citizens feel that no road or public place should be named after a living politician. “Such a thing is resorted to by only those people who do not have faith that they will be remembered after their death,” says Dr Kamath

People are unanimous in their approval for the naming of a Circle as Anil Kumble Circle, at the junction of MG Road and St Mark’s Road, which was earlier known as Oriental Circle, after the Oriental Building which houses the LIC.

Even among those who know little about Miller or Sankey, the names have become landmarks and people identify them as such. Miller's Road was renamed as Basaveshwara Road, while a part of Sankey Road has been named after T Chowdaiah, the well-known Carnatic violinist. Looks like the trend will never stop!