India: What's in a name?

Excellent AP article on the name changing spree of the past decade and the effect it has had.

The article notes that people have always used Mumbai or Kolkata in the local languages and the name changes are usually driven by political agendas.

The Bombay Stock Exchange, Bombay Gymkhana club and the University of Madras also have retained the old names on grounds of tradition. When the Kerala city of Cochin was renamed Kochi, administrators at the Cochin University of Science and Technology kept the old name because they feared the school could be confused with Japan's Kochi University.

I have always been impressed at how the Bombay Municipal Corporation kept its initials but changed its name by using the 'B' for 'BrihanMumbai' (Greater Mumbai).

The senior editor of National Geographic Maps feels that maps of India will show both the old and the new names for a while. He cites the example of Istanbul/Constantinople which is depicted in maps with both names.

The article ends on a great note with Pramod Navalakar, leader of the right-wing Shiv Sena party that spearheaded the change to Mumbai, saying that the renaming may be getting out of hand. The example of the Laburnum street mentioned in the article proves his point.

He added with a chuckle, "Many a time I also say 'Bombay.'''