India has a rich history, which also means our cities have changed names more often than a Delhi girl changes her wardrobe. Each time a new dynasty came to rule us, the name changed – as if that would make it their own.
The original names of most Indian cities tell you a lot about the city now. Gurgaon is named after Dronacharya – it’s “Guru Gaon”. He taught the Pandavas martial arts. Thus, when there is violence in Gurgaon – it’s just people upholding tradition, upside down. That dude with a gun threatening someone is not a robber – he’s just Arjuna whose bow and arrow was so blessed, it turned into a gun! That guy with a hockey stick smashing your car – is just Bheema’s gadda.
Bangalore’s etymology is mixed. The most fun origin is ‘benda-kaal-uru’ or ‘town of boiled beans’, which originated when a king lost in the forest was saved by a woman who served him boiled beans. Be glad she didn’t serve him Baingan Ka Bharta. Benda-Kaal-BainganKaBharta is longer than one of the city’s famed traffic snarls. Then there is Hyderabad which is Hyder’s abode or Lion’s City. There are few lions in Andhra Pradesh — that explains why men in the city insist on growing beards trying to have manes that would equate them to lions. Kolkata originated from ‘Kolikata’, which came from ‘Kalikkhetro’, meaning ‘field of Kali’ which clearly explains why the city is accepting of an angry woman running their affairs – it’s part of their history!
While many cities get their names from Goddesses such as Mumbai (Mumba Devi), Mangalore (Mangla Devi) etc. Mysore gets its name from Mahisha, a demon that could take the form of both human and buffalo. Which raises many questions: why name yourself after a demon? What kind of lame demon has the super power of being a buffalo?And, whether the Goddess that eventually killed him was The Amul Girl, who was exhausted with trying to milk him in his wrong avatar.
Sorabh Pant has a weird name on Twitter, do follow him @hankypanty