If only life was so simple. Name change used to be just a personal choice, a simple affidavit supported by a 5×1 ad in classified. It was never meant to be a game-changer like the possible name change from India to Bharat! How much has life changed?
The media starts fuelling rumours while undertaking fact-checks on social media. Bharat or India, it’s the same thing for most of the population, other than people in marketing, media, branding, politics and associated ecosystem. Ask the masses at the grassroots; they will tell you, Hindi mein Bharat hai toh English mein India. And the simplicity is lost when invitations and plaques give more emphasis to one than the other. The people never raised their voices when Bharat was neglected and India was dominant.
The consultants have already calculated the cost of the changeover. The political wheels must have been initiated for the possible project and the enormous responsibility that may fall on some bureaucrats and departments. Pitch documents started getting decked up with the latest research insight in the few agencies willing to take the chance.
NAME CHANGES ARE NOT EASY.
Rajiv Gandhi Chowk, other than on metro rails, is still Connaught Place. VT may be CSMT; it is still called VT, but Allahabad, for all official purposes, is now Prayagraj.
The India to Bharat change, if actualised, is a mammoth task.
We may, in fact, end up with a very fluid hybrid situation. Visitors to India soaking in a Bharat Adhyatam Tour. Or residents of Bharat travelling to discover India.
Yes, jokes apart, the name change has multiple implications. If we complicate the picture, it is about not merely remaining. It is challenging to continue and strengthen identity, imagery and branding. If implemented, it will have to be a democratically dictatorial process. There is no possibility or need for a Brexit kind of referendum on the subject, which really could be a non-issue. But democracy allows for debates and arguments- which are already heated up.
COEXISTANCE OF BHARAT AND INDIA.
‘India, that is Bharat’, is so true, and the two can coexist. Thus, there is no real friction when there is no real change. It could even be Bharat subscript India. And if the nation wants to make the change, we have a classical window to do so. The country is in a position of strength to ensure a smooth transition, though not without hurdles and complaints.
The Bharat that was India may associate and further strengthen the singularity of the back to the roots feeling. Yes, it may also enhance the Indian-ness! It may signal that India is aligned with the broader majority of the nation. It may, but that is when ‘India’ is killed, and only Bharat exists. Maybe it will finally draw the strength it should draw from its rich history and culture, which was getting opaqued under India. However, India is Bharat is Hindustan.
Whatever the name, it will still be the largest democracy, the heritage of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Veda, the land of Ramayana and Mahabharat, the source of Gita and the definitive trinity, the country of talented people in the past and present, the country that landed on the darker side of the moon.
Undoubtedly, the mere thought of change raises more questions and increases uncertainty about the future because we all have to assume more than what has been officially stated.
Net-net
Change of name, a renaming exercise, always excites the marketing people. There are so many layers to it. Nations do not regularly get the window to rename, and it could be hugely costly in many ways. So, discussions and debates are expected and welcome till they do not become absurd. And yes, people need to look at the possible situation of the hybrid existence- ‘Bharat that was India’.
Post Script
Meanwhile, I am happy the residents of Lansdowne (my native town) have said no to it being named after ‘CDS Rawat’ or changed to ‘Jaswantgarh’, after the 1962 war hero as desired by the cantonment board. I have massive respect for both soldiers. In the last few decades, Lansdowne has been discovered as a beautiful hill station. It can ill afford a name change at this stage. Check it out and, if possible, visit it in the coming summers.
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