WHY?

 WHY?

A number of instances appear in our memory, most of which I try to figure out- why? In fact, I have always felt, these are cases of some ‘blind’ adherence to habit rather than obliging any logic. Let us try to consider the following – in our effort to decipher any rationale behind such practices. Look at these

HOTEL

Why names like “Ambal café, Arya bhavan, Venkatesa bhavan, Balaji bhavan” are more common as names of vegetarian hotels in Southern India? May be some sentiments of associating names with those of some deities – with the innate respect for those Gods holds the key to the nomenclature. A similar trend does not seem to be so common in naming their non-vegetarian counterparts. Often they carry names of Moghul emperors- Akbar or Jehanghir or some places like Hong Kong, Singapore or New York. However, a major Indian example of ’naming’ a non-vegetarian chain of hotels of global distribution on a deity’s name  is Madurai Muniyandi Vilas, ‘Muniyandi’ – being the name of a family deity for a group of people hailing from a place in Madurai district. By tradition they use the name of their deity for naming the hotel no matter where it is located on a global map. Of course, a few families choose to use names of some other deities for their hotels.

CINEMA HALLS

Central, Roxy, Wellington, Paradise, Diamond, Casino are some names associated with cinema halls which were started in the days of pre-independence in India. I am sure none knows what those names signify to a movie-goer. All [s]he knew was which house would screen vernacular movies and which ones patronized English or Hindi movies. Names of movie houses changed to be outright ‘domestic’ with names like ‘Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Ram , Sundaram’ etc; some went so far as to provide  names, ‘Karuppiah, Vellaikkannu, Pitchai, Sannaasi ‘ and so on  for movie halls.

Saloons

The earlier practice of addressing the ‘hair-dressing shops’ was to call them saloons. Mystery used to shroud their names. Irrespective of the town, in most places across Tamil Nadu, saloons were named ‘Malaya Saloon’, Singapore Saloon’ and at times ‘Saigon saloon’. What have these Asian destinations to do with hair dressing? Was it that the best of craftsmen on that trade were abundant in those places? Possibly, some sentiments used to rule the naming of a shop.

TAILOR SHOPS

Tailors also had the fancy of using names of places for their shops. They too resorted to ‘Singapore’, Saigon, Hong Kong, Tokyo and at times NewYork for naming their shops. There was some degree of patriotism too with some of them, if we go by their shop names such as Bombay tailors, Madras Tailors, Bangalore tailors etc. It appeals to me as a polite publicity of the craftsmen having been trained from those places. No customer attempts to verify the veracity of those names either.

 

BOMBAY MEALS

It is fashionable in South Indian towns to market Chappathies and related dishes on the name of ‘Bombay Meals’. Some also associate the food with Gujarat and call it ‘Gujarathi meal’. None has ever visited Bombay or Gujarat or has had the opportunity to taste the kind of food served in hotels across Bombay/ Gujarat. But, what has a semblance of North Indian taste or flavour readily acquires the status of Bombay meal/‘Gujarathi meal’. The consumer [of course a Southerner] does not understand the distinctions between, people from Maharashtra, U P , Bihar , Rajasthan or even from W. Bengal.  For them summarily all are North Indians [Hindi people] and their food is Bombay meals. The situation is the closest parallel for the average Indians to consider all Westerners as British people even if from Germany/ Russia or Scandinavia and firmly presume that their language is English. On sighting any of them our school children eagerly line up before him/ her and ask in distinct syllables “What Is Your Name”. The visitor baffled by the oriental pronunciation manages by sheepishly laughing and nodding his/ her head individually to each child. Emboldened by this, the children stretch their forearms for a handshake and the visitor gleefully responds. What does it matter if [s]he is British or Irish or Russian? [S]He is English in our reckoning.

IYENGAR BAKERY

The innocent Iyengars are forcibly brought into a trade of which they are neither familiar nor guilty. Yes, across Tamil Nadu if one travels by road, every 3- 4 minutes some bakery or the other stands visible bearing the name X X X IYENGAR BAKERY.  All one needs is to substitute the X X X segment by some name to be faithfully followed by the magic words “IYENGAR BAKERY”. The trade believes that but for the name ‘IYENGAR’, they cannot freely market their produce. It implies that the name tag is a QUALITY ASSURANCE by itself.  People who are too very keen to use a name that serves for a quality clearance, ought to bestow attention on to the feasibility of congruity in names. Look at this incongruity in name “SUPPIRAMANI IYENGAR BAKERY”-- Proprietor: Mari muthu or in some shops : Pechi amma.  Equally, comic is the attitude of some local politicians who choose  to call themselves “Mayandi Yadhav” or “Pitchai Yadhav”, as such a suffix is in vogue across North Indian  political outfits. Only name is needed and no logic is thought of.

Prof. K. Raman