Delhi or Dehli or Dilli?
WHATS in a name? Plenty, it seems. Some Indian historians have kicked off a passionate campaign demanding renaming of the capital Delhi as Dehli. The champions of Rename Delhi oops, Dehli cause argue that the British with their stiff upper lip in place couldnt properly pronounce the traditional name of Mughal Dehli or Dilli.
Its argued that the imperial mispronunciation of Dehli as Delhi came to be recognised as the right name. Which is a shame, insist the patriotic group of Indian historians. Well, at least this renaming of Delhi is not as drastic and unreasonable as Kolkata in place of Calcutta or Chennai instead of good ol Madras. But why, pray, bother to change Delhi to Dehli? Whats wrong with the much-reassuring Delhi? What historical wrongs will be instantly corrected, if Delhi is called Dehli? Patriotic fervour may account for this zeal to change the names of streets, cities, and countries, but it is patently inconvenient and often borders on the absurd. And more often than not, this preoccupation with the past assumes unreasonable proportions and sparks chain reaction. When Shiv Senas Bal Thackeray wanted to send home the message that he ran Indias financial capital, he renamed the cosmopolitan Bombay as Mumbai a really dull name for a lively city. Which inspired the Tamil Dravidian parties to turn Madras into Chennai. Which in turn led to renaming of Calcutta as Kolkata by the Marxists. And now we are talking about Dehli! Where is this going to end? Pride in ones roots and historical past is fine but it is rather difficult to accept when it turns into an obsession inconvenient for everyone else.
NEW delhi - Indias growing economy has turned a local debate global as foreign tourists arrive in greater numbers and investment in call centres grows -- is it Mumbai or Bombay? Chennai or Madras? Kolkata or Calcutta? [more...]
Yahoo! Mail
Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour
***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "islamcity" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
