On addressing the current and pressing needs

I was waiting for this Karnataka Rajyotsava. It has passed by without creating much flutter. I am happy. I hope what I write now is not read by the wrong kind of Kannada chauvinists who are with the ‘whos-who’ of the Karnataka government and can make a policy change happen. Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Gulbarga have survived being besmirched with their Kannada influenced name in English. Apart from the odd fellows on Orkut putting up Bengalooru, Bangalore..rather its name is still alive!

Do Roma and Rome in Italian and English peacefully, synergistically co-exist or not? Some 'intellect' named U.R.Ananthmurthy was behind trying to make a Bengalooru, Mysooru, Mangaluru, Hubbali, Kalburgi out of them in English. It is already written thus in Kannada. Why impose it on English? First and foremost all these cities have been and will remain close to my heart. Bangalore --- I have had some of my education there. Mysore --- is where I have spent most of my life. Mangalore (or rather its outskirts-Surathkal) is where I have graduated from and grown. Hubli-Dharwad is where I was born and started my career.

Some people were involved in saving their own gaddi during this Rajyotsava thanks to the recent imbroglio. So, naming cities, thinking deeper, changing some part of the identity of what is it….. around 9 million people (7+1+1+0.5+0.3) could take a back seat! The government didn’t think about this when U R Ananthmurhty came up with his proposal, the fiddling with the identity of around 9 million people. That was because they felt there was a need to generate news then, due to their relative inaction in other fields, when the flutter was created, February 2007 that is. They felt (although technically speaking they are the elected representatives of the people) they represent the 9 million people so much so that they can change some part of their identity.

What is more important than anything else, is addressing the current needs to the best of ones abilities. Infrastructure. Diligent planning to accommodate future growth. What would help is to solve the pressing and urgent problems on hand. Because if one feels one leave can leave a lasting impact on his world and try and make a name for himself (by inducing such changes in the names of these lovely cities) he would probably end up making a fool of himself more than anything else. During one of my recent conversations with PSB, he said that Abraham Lincoln during his famous speech of ‘For the people, by the people….’ was addressing a current need to soothe people after the American civil war. He never intended his speech to be the enduring message to humanity it has become. His speech was ‘noticed’ much later, after a few years. Its relevance was seen in the need to nurture a democratic set-up. Very true in this context!