Viva la Vi

Vibrant, Verbose, Voracious

1. Vidya 12.3.07 / 11am

   The city you know as Bombay was long long ago, once known Mumbai, and people did have the same reaction when they were corrected thus. Its just a cycle. The next generation would know it as Mumbai. :-)

   Mumbai/Bombay… Chennai/Madras, whats in a name. Its the feel that that place gives is more important to me. I grew up in Madras, still call it Madras, would love to call it Madras, but sadly, many times, have to refer to it as Chennai.

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2. Ajay 12.3.07 / 3pm

   As Vidya said, I always like it when they say Madras. I too say Madras whenever I can. Changing it to Chennai doesn’t bring back or portray Tamilness in my opinion.
   But perhaps, it’s a Luddite reaction with me than anything else.

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3. Rambler 12.3.07 / 8pm

   Oh I totally agree with what you are saying, it will always be Bombay Madras and Bangalore to me..

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4. asuph 12.4.07 / 6am

   you know what, there always “was” a mumbai, and a bombay, living in the same place, and a bambayee too, and, curiously, a bom-be, and mhamaii. i don’t know about madras/chennai, but in most of maharashtra, it was always mumbai (there was a famous book: mumbai dinak, a movie: mumbaicha jaawai… ). so for the cosmopolitan crowd of Bombay, it was bombay, and for the predominantly ghaati maharashtra, it was mumbai. bal thakrey was always “mumbai hriday samrat” never “bombay hriday samrat”. the ST buses were always “Mumbai-Ratnagir”, “Mumbai-Nasik”… and flights were probably from Bombay-Delhi… but then such a democracy of expression is too complex for the simplistic political world-views. sigh!

   (someone teach me brevity)

   -asuph

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5. Arcopol 12.4.07 / 4pm

   I remember discussing this topic in the local train once. My perspective was inclined towards Bombay, rather than Mumbai.
   As the discussion proceeded, my fellow passengers turned out to be hard-core Maharashtrians. And they carefully steered the discussion to how me, a Bengali was taking away their livelihood by working in this city.
   Shame shame.

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6. SEV 12.4.07 / 6pm

   Completely agree.

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7. Priyank 12.5.07 / 10am

   Well, Bombay was always Mumbai to Marathi people and Bambai to Hindi speakers. I am for status quo and such forceful disruption imposed by our collectivist politicians are indeed deplorable…

   Arcopol, I hope you don’t generalize that guy’s view. I assure you, he’s speaks of a rapidly shrinking xenophobic thought. Immigration is always a sensitive issue for the locals – not just in Mumbai, but places all over the world.

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8. Vi 12.7.07 / 12am

   Vidya: You’re right. My stubbornness regarding the name change is purely sentimental. I remember that Bombay, as I’m sure many people do, and I enjoyed it. As a child, I really liked it. I didn’t like moving away and returning, I didn’t like realizing things for what they were. But that’s part of the growing-up process.

   Ajay: It doesn’t portray one thing better than the other, I suppose the name does not make a difference – I just like having that familiar connection. I’m already so distanced and unfamiliar with much of the culture of India and what it is now, and having that one connection is..important. Not to say that my family isn’t cultural here, but it’s a different feeling to only remember Diwali being celebrated in the US rather than trying to remember what it was like in India, especially in Bombay. It’s different, perhaps I’m not explaining it as well as I should. Oh well.

   Rambler: Yay! :)

   Asuph: Strangely, I remember that. But I didn’t live in the “cosmopolitan” part of Bombay – and I still remember it being Bombay.

   Arcophol: Bengali taking away their jobs? I’m lost, I’m afraid.

   Sev: :)

   Priyank: Maybe that is also the part of the reason. I remember speaking Hindi before speaking Tamil – but Hindi is also mostly forgotten now. And I really an confused about the latter.

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9. GoDog 12.7.07 / 12am

   I’ve always wanted to live for a month in Bombay, and really experience it from the inside.

   Where’s this Mumbai place of which you speak. ;)

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10. Extempore 12.7.07 / 10am

    *Nodding head vigorously* I agree.

    Mumbai connotes a space and and an identity that I cannot see as one I grew up into or one that is my own – esp after 27 years in this city. To be utterly fair, I must admit that Bombay is changing in ways that I don’t like and sometimes, I tire of defending it. But love it madly and think of it as Bombay – always. :-)

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11. Vi 12.7.07 / 8pm

    GoDog: You most certainly should! And check out the surrounding places, too. :)

    Extempore: Glad you agree! And 27 years – that’s quite a long time. What is one thing that has remained constant for you in Bombay?

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12. Extempore 12.9.07 / 7am

    Well, accurately, about 24 coherent, remember-able (since such a word doesn’t exist!) years.

    I don’t know if a thing as much as a vibe, a feeling has remained the same. Of freedom (of a relative nature, I must admit), of walking around a familiar place, heavy-hearted and at peace, and of many, many different kinds of opportunity. Does that make the slightest sense? :-)

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13. mysoul 12.11.07 / 12am

    If they really rename Bangalore it would be Bendakalluru(boiled bean village) and not Bengalur. Now I wonder how the Mount Carmalites and the Josephites(colleges in Bangalore) would react to that(giggling).

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14. Viral Vandre 1.21.08 / 1am

    :) … Kewl… Sometimes we figure out not to accept the changes because its the original thing that we like..

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15. Pavi 1.24.08 / 8pm

    I say “Sure, it must’ve slipped my tongue!” but in my head I’m thinking, “No, I think I really did mean Bombay; it’ll always be Bombay to me.”

    <3.

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16. educatedunemployed 1.31.08 / 8pm

    I concur.

    Reply

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