A fashionable city catches up with a nationwide trend

A fashionable city catches up with a nationwide trend

The Hindu

`Bengaluru' will come into vogue on November 1 next year

# It is the second major decision with regard to change in name
# In November 1973, the name of the State was changed from Mysore to Karnataka

BANGALORE: Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh's announcement about changing the name of Bangalore to Bengalooru (or Bengaluru) has been by and large welcomed, though there are some who maintain as to "what's in a name?"

The new name or spelling for the city will come into vogue from November 1, 2006, the culmination of the "Suvarna Karnataka" celebrations, or the golden jubilee year of the formation of the reorganised State.

It was the Jnanpith award winning Kannada litterateur U.R. Ananthamurthy who had said that the least the Government could do in the year of Suvarna Karnataka was to change the name of Bangalore to Bengalooru, which has the fragrance of the soil of the place. Participating in a meeting convened by the Chief Minister, Prof. Ananthamurthy had noted that the names of some of the major cities in the country have already been changed.

Influx into city

The decision to change the name of the city has also to be viewed against the backdrop of the public discourse in recent months on the influx of people from other States to the city and that they have benefited more from information technology and other sunrise industries in the city and that the percentage of Kannadigas in the State capital has declined. There is also much resentment, especially in literary circles and among Kannada organisations, about the Centre's failure to accord to classical language status to Kannada. Prof. Ananthamurthy clashed openly with literary giant D. Javare Gowda in Mysore recently. The latter had observed a day's fast on that issue. Prof. Ananthamurthy saw no reason for such a demand.

The transition from Bangalore to Bengalooru (or Bengaluru) over the next 11 months will not involve changing the name of the State capital but only making official the age-old Kannada name.

For long an "India, that is Bharat" situation has existed with regard to the name of the city. The name of the city is spelt Bangalore only in writings and communication in English. The Government and the people at large have always called it "Bengalooru" in Kannada. The decision announced by the Chief Minister in Gulbarga on Sunday will see the dropping of the anglicised name, Bangalore, a corruption of Bengalooru, from November 1, 2006.

That day will mark the completion of the golden jubilee year of the reorganised State. The official seal on the Kannada name will be unlike in the case of neighbouring Chennai, where the old name Madras was dropped, or in Pakistan, where Montgomery became Sahiwal and Lyallpur-Faizalabad. The position with regard to Bangalore will be similar to Bombay becoming Mumbai, Calcutta taking the name Kolkata, and the Poona-Pune transformation, where what was popular replaced the names given by the British. The British spelling Cawnpore gave way to the simple Kanpur, Ooty gave way to the tongue-twister Udhagamandalam, Trivandrum was twisted to Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy to Tiruchirapalli and Baroda to Vadodara.

It is going to be the second major decision with regard to change in name. It was the Devaraj Urs government which changed the name of the State from Mysore to Karnataka on November 1, 1973.

In a way, Karnataka has so far lagged behind States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu in changing the names of cities and towns.

Another issue to be sorted out is about the spelling: should it be "Bengalooru" or "Bengalur"?

Much work is left

There is no doubt much work is left for the Government with regard to changing names. Some want the spelling Mysore changed as it rhymes with "eyesore".

Probably, not many are prepared to bid for Mahishasurapura as it will be naming the city after a demon. Should not Mr. Dharam Singh's home district Gulbarga become Kalburgi, Mangalore Mangalooru, and Belgaum Belgavi?

Hubli, no doubt, has always been written in Kannada as "Hubballi".