Arcade of Thoughts

[Assumes that reader has read the book]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Let me begin by saying, the movie simply doesn’t come close to the book, a good movie nevertheless. And that the two of the most amusing parts of the movie are the disclaimers shown at the beginning and the end.

Jokes apart, This was the movie which boasted of double Oscar winner Tom Hanks as a cast member and double Oscar winner Ron Howard as Director. Tom Hanks doesn’t fit into the role of a learned professor, esp. with the long hair. Clearly, the role belonged to Harrison Ford, George Clooney, or Nicholas Cage. The movie follows the outline of the the book quite closely with certain details missed. For those Indian audience who haven’t read the book, the French accent might put a considerable strain on the ears to grasp the dialogues. The movie, being set in the dark, might make you uneasy at times.

The book explores the past of Sophie for quite a few pages. The fact that Sophie was one who should have been cracking anagrams, given her experience in the past, and Langdon had to play a significant role only later formed the solid reason for Langdon to stick to Sophie in her trail. The movie hardly uncovers the past of Sophie which i thought was pretty important. Description of Architecture is unmatched in the book which no movie can ever come close to. The movie has omitted the first cryptex which opens with *****. In my opinion, the this could have easily been included in the movie without consuming much time. The details of pagan rituals and practices have also been overlooked. Perhaps, a three hour movie instead of a two and a half hour one would have sufficed for a reasonably comprehensive coverage of the book. The topic on golden ratio wasn’t even brought up in the conversation. The book , at least for me, aroused interest in knowing history. To quite an extent, it made Langdon look ‘cool’ with all the knowledge he had and with his interpretation of symbols. The movie fails to do so (but that’s not what a movie is for anyway).

Silas’ role was portrayed to perfection. The zeal in him was well displayed by Paul Bettany. Some of the scenes involving him bring you to the edge of the seats. The movie is fast paced, Just right to keep the attention of the viewers for 150 minutes. Thought the movie doesn’t give enough time to comprehend the difficulty of the clues and the lateral thinking involved in solving it, it does provide a good weekend entertainment value. Teibing’s assertion about Jesus Christ’s life is also worth a mention. Thankfully, the movies doesn’t get into the romance between Sophie and Langdon. It has also carefully avoided the Hindi movie ending of the book and made it a lot less sentimental.

Bottom line: It is worth a movie ticket. It is watchable only once (if one has read the book or not).

Do comment if you have anything else to say.

Over past two weeks, protests against reservation being given to OBCs has intensified drastically. In my earlier post (on reservation), i wasn’t too ‘keen’ on talking about politics involved in the whole issue. This post will reflect the hypocrisy of MPs in our country. To begin with, out politicians claim that the reservation is being ‘awarded’ to OBCs for their upliftment. They believe that OBCs are under-represented in higher educational institutes in our country. They have absolutely no statistics to prove that though. Why is it that MPs are against reservation in parliament? Quite clearly, OBCs are underrepresented there too. I was wondering why this point was raised during any debate for over a week now. I was happy to find one banner echoing this point couple of day earlier in TOI. The arguments in favour of reservation hold good even in this case. It goes without saying that when MPs themselves are at the receiving end, no arguments, however strong, fall on deaf ears. They are the same MPs who vehemently opposed women’s reservation in parliament. It has not even been allowed to be tabled in parliament till now. Before even a speech is made, politicians walk out of the house with all the rage in the world. Condition of women, no doubt, is worse then SC/STs or OBCs. Why aren’t the concerned politicians ignorant in tackling that issue before?
[This does not mean i support reservation for OBCs or women in parliament.]

One of the ridiculous argument made in favour of the reservation is that our education system fails to identify the real merit, so anti-reservation activists’ claim of merit being diluted in a fallacy. The simple answer is to change the education system. Reservation will do no good. One of the bloggers goes on to belittle IITians saying

“Our exams often generate and encourage stupidity and push forward the least talented of the lot. I am not an IIT student, and will not pretend to know much about the CAT since I didn’t crack it, but it is rather interesting that almost none of our wonderful IIT-ians (for whom such pitted battled are being fought) have made any earth-shattering discoveries or inventions. “

It cant be helped when one chooses to remain oblivious to science and technology development in the words. For the starters, the founder of Sun Microsystems was an IITian, Vinod Khosla, which developed java. Many of the students have research publications before they complete engineering. To really make a progress in Science and Technology, we need money. Indian government is apathetic towards research, so most of the IITians turn to USA for research. Indian (not just IITian) contribution to science and engineering has been very significant. The fact that Indian research institute aren’t doing well can be attributed to poverty and not the lack of brains. With reservation around, more brains are being denied the much deserved opportunity.

Both Kamal Nath and Arjun Singh are clueless as to the “plight” of OBCs in the country. In the interview with Karan Thapar, their immature rhetoric in dealing with questions fired at them makes me angry with the government for their choice of such irresponsible ministers. A year ago, i was so proud to be in country where both prime minister and president have a PhD to their name, but the government as single body gets the whole country down. NSSO’s figures indicate that OBCs are getting their share of the cake. Why, then, is the whole issue of reservation bring brought up? Our Prime Minister hasn’t even taken a stand on reservation yet. It is not the so called dignified silence, but silence of defenseless politician.

Reservation will also affect the OBCs themselves in a negative way. Students will be discriminated against. Complacency will creep in. To give you an example, when attendance is not taken in a class, be in 5 point someone or 9 point someone, many students bunk. It a natural tendency to do so. When a student knows that, by caste, he will be admitted to a premier institution, his preparation will fall short. The year I got through JEE, the 9^th ranker in reserved category was 1900^th rank in general category. Even after sixty years, if the gap has not been bridged, reservation is not the way to go.

Some protesters ask, “what more do upper caste want? They have 50.5% seats for 15% population?” No, those 50.5% seats are not reserved for us. Its up for grabs for every one including SC/STs and OBCs. In 2003 , rank 1(SC/ST) (less than 10 in GE) in JEE chose a seat in General Merit. He was hailed. I don’t see why? All he did was snatch deserving candidates’ seats. It’s not just one seat. If he had chosen Branch A, one person would have had to settle for branch B, some other person for branch C and so on.

The government is simply not addressing the issue of extending primary education to all. (which is a fundamental right btw). Even reservation in private sector is on the cards. If reservation is required at every stage, a question begs to be asked, “if reservation is needed at every stage, doesn’t that mean they are just not good enough?”

I consider myself very fortunate to be at a place where music flows unlimited on the LAN. Sometimes the best part of the day is when I get back to my room and listen to endless music. Over last fifty years, several legends have left a lasting impression with their music. I have often asked myself, “Which is my favorite song”. Answer to that has not been just one song. When others ask me this, I usually reply, “with or without you”, by U2. The fact is that a whole lot of songs spring in my head when I think of great songs or best songs ever written.

In the movie Ray, a biography of Ray Charles, he talks of country music as best form of music because of the stories they tell. True indeed! The ballads they churn out are mesmerizing to say the least. The song “The Gambler”, by Kenny Rogers, is easily one of my favorite country ballads. This song brings out the advice from a gambler.

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

What’s intriguing about the song is that the advice is given by a relatively disrespected character in the society and yet it makes all the sense in the world.

Yet another country ballad I love listening to is “Traveling Soldier”, by Dixie Chicks. It’s a simple song about a soldier who befriends a girl so that he could write letters from Vietnam. The need for a friend when you are lonely is powerfully delivered. “You are my best friend”, by Don Williams, reminds you what friendship really is with some timeless metaphors.

You’re my bread when I’m hungry you’re my shelter from troubled winds
you’re my anchor in life’s ocean but most of all you’re my best friend

Turning over to rock music, the song that I find to take me to a different world altogether is “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan. Wiki tells me

There are many theories about the meaning of the song. One interpretation is that the song allusively recounts Dylan’s early experiences with LSD, and this is supported by the prominent use of the word “trip” in the first line of the second verse.

Every time I listen to this song, I am in a completely different world. Knowing me, I am pretty sure I will never try LSD. I am guessing this song will be the best vicarious experience of LSD I will ever have. I particularly adore this stanza from the song

Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

When speaking of rock, the psychedelic Pink Floyd can’t be left behind. Among so many gems they have produced, the best one, in my opinion, is “learning to fly”. This song best describes how it feels like to fly:

There’s no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss

“Free to decide” by Cranberries is one of my all time favourite songs. There are two groups of which I like every song that I have heard, Cranberries is one of them. The other is U2. Coincidentally both the groups are Irish. The rebellious “Sunday, bloody Sunday” By U2 is the song that moves by senses. This anti-war song is a fitting tribute to the victims of Bloody Sunday in Ireland on 30^th Jan., 1972. **14 people were killed (including 6 minors) and 13 others wounded by British paratroopers after a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city of Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Many witnesses, including bystanders and journalists, claim that those shot at were all unarmed.

**quoted from wiki

“Tears in heaven” by Eric Clapton was written by Eric Clapton and dedicated to his son, Conor Clapton, who died a 4 year old by falling off from the 54^th floor. Ever since I got to know this, the song has always given me the blues. Beautifully written song…..

The romantic song “Top of the world”, by Carpenters scores high on my best pop music ratings. The song is made all the more romantic because of the infatuating voice of Karen Carpenter. I cannot find a word better to describe her sweet voice. It’s a real pity that the world lost Karen to Anorexia Nervosa when she was in her 30s.

One of my favorite bands, Bee gees’ “stayin’ alive” is a disco classic. I don’t find anything great in the lyrics though. It just speaks about ‘staying alive’ in the busy, turbulent world that we have created. What I love about the song is its pulsating tune that can get you on your toes anytime. “The winner takes it all” by Abba is a poignant song on break-up. Arguably, it is one of their best works.

“Bridge over troubled water” by Simon and Garfunkel is another song interpreted as a song on pleasures of using drug. The silver girl in the song, some believe, refers to the needle used to inject drugs. Others believe the song is about friendship and how friends lay themselves down like a bridge over troubled water. Paul Simon clarified about the silver girl in the song saying, “My girlfriend at the time was particularly saddened upon finding a few grey hairs in her brush, lamenting that she was getting older. I wrote that lyric as a tribute and inside joke to her. I don’t know how the heroin connection rumor got started. The song is basically about friendship.” It’s ironical that this song on friendship led to their break-up owing to disagreement on who should sing the song.

“Radio ga ga” by Queen is a song on the advent of television and its role in bringing the radio down. Other songs in my all time favorite list includes “stairway to heaven” by Led Zep, “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, “Solitary Man” by Neil Diamond, “Riders on the storm” by Doors, “Sweet Surrender” by Bread, “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull, “Reelin’ in the years” by Steely Dan and many more.

If anyone hasn’t heard any of the songs above, he is missing out on lot of entertainment. Please do comment on your favorite songs and who do you think has the best voice. Among male artists, in my opinion, Freddie Mercury takes a clear pole position and infatuating voice of Karen Carpenter among the female artists. My favorite bands are U2 and Bee Gees. Lemme know yours.

A week back, I was a part of team which conducted an event called “how things work” in our departmental techfest, Mechanica, in IIT Madras. Being a relatively small techfest, the participation was not too high from outside institutions. With over 70% of participating teams from the home college, it came a little surprise the most of the teams selected to appear in the finals were from IIT Madras. Just then, some of us were wondering if we should reserves two out of eight places in the finals for the teams from other colleges. I opposed this stating that any form of reservation deserves to be scrapped. The suggestion was immediately taken back and we had eight best teams participating in the finals.

All of us know that reservation to SC and ST was given right after its Independence. It is also a known that BR Ambedkar himself suggested that the reservation be withdrawn after about ten-fifteen years. The introduction of reservation was to kick start the development of the socially oppressed. The intention was perfect. The execution may not have been very pleasing, but should have seen a partial success. A significant number of families must have been able on stand on their feet back then.

The year I got through JEE, the 9^th ranker in reserved category was 1900^th rank in general category. That was when I felt that reservation was “justice denied” to hundreds of deserving candidates. In my opinion, a person by virtue of coaching classes alone and no work input, can get close to 6000th to 10000th rank in JEE. If the student happens to belong to SC/ST category, he will be admitted with open arms to IITs (having got within top 50 ranks). This is unfair. Close to 4000 student would have worked hard to get into IITs of which 1500 would have been turned down because of lack of seats. To find their own peers who have hardly put any effort to get into the institute, because of reservations, is outrageous.

Couple of years back, there was debate regarding reservation in private sectors in Maharastra, I recall having seen ‘the big fight’ (NDTV), where supporter of reservation argued that reservation doesn’t mean a compromise in quality of professionals and that SC/ST students are not a compromise on merit. Let’s get this straight. Seats are reserved for primary education, acceptable; seats are reserved for secondary (high school) education, again acceptable; reservation in plus two, doesn’t decide the future in a big way, acceptable. At an under graduate level, reservation is certainly not acceptable. If they are not a compromise on merit, why are they demanding reservation even in private sectors? They have sufficient reservation in government jobs, and number of their posts in govt. sectors is largely unfilled.

Any form of reservation is a compromise on merit. When it was done sixty years earlier, it was done with a purpose. With the purpose defeated, it’s all downhill from where I see it. Now, I think, it is time for SC/ST to come out and say, “We are good, we don’t need any reservation, don’t spoon-feed us.” What do you think? Seriously, look beyond cast, creed, religion, regionalism or wardrobe malfunction….there are number of other things which demand immediate attention.

When a stranger approaches you, how would you react? With doubt or with trust? It was the new year’s day, 2006, about twenty minutes past midnight. I was at my cousins place when we decided celebrate with a visit to café coffee day. Bangalore too was quite dismal when the clock stroked twelve on 31^st December with only a handful of shops open during the hour. But, the cheerful crowds on the streets kept our spirits high. As I was driving on the infamous Bannerughatta Road (for being the worst road in the country on NDTV polls), I had roll down the windows to shake hands with the enthusiastic crowd having a great time on the streets. It was then that my cousin warned me not to roll down the shutters. He reasoned that chain-snatchers and pick-pockets are active during the festive time. I argued that most of people are out here to have some fun. “Why not join them?” Some three to four minutes into the conversation I pointed out that anyone’s reaction to a stranger is simply trust or suspension. If it’s former, both are likely to benefit, while if it’s later, any mutual benefit is highly unlikely.

I then narrated this incident which happened to me in Coimbatore a month earlier. From young age most of us ‘taught’ that by definition, from our ‘learnt’ elders, that auto and taxi drivers are here to extract all your money. Being in Chennai most of the time, I wasn’t new to bargaining with auto drivers who are notorious for charging to the extent of 200% of the actual fare. We (my friend and I) decided to take a taxi to reach Amrita University, which is some 25 km from the city railway station. Before we could place the luggage in the trunk, the driver, a very old man, changed from neutral to first gear without using the clutch. I smiled to myself sensing a rough ride. The drive turned out a lot finer than I anticipated. Through the bumpy roads, the driver was slow enough to get us there in one piece.

On the way, I asked him about some nearby tourist destinations (which I, sadly, couldn’t visit). It was clear in an instant that the driver just loved speaking. I did not know Tamil, so my friend had to translate the parts that I couldn’t understand. On the way we stopped at a petrol bunk, where I paid 100 rupees for the diesel. He told us about a waterfall and a dam near the university on Kerala – Tamil Nadu border which was five kilometers away. Coimbatore, I found out, was right next to the Western Ghats. As we drove nearer to the destination, the serene atmosphere, nostalgically reminded me of Kudremukh (some pics here) which was in the heart of Western Ghats. The picturesque view of the hills around resembled closely to those in Kudremukh. I distinctly remember a hill that stood like a conical pyramid. The blend of the fresh green grass and the dry yellow grass added to its appeal. Just as I was beginning to get a sense of the place around, the taxi had to stop for railway crossing for about half an hour. It was then that I got the glimpse of the clouds engulfing the hill tops as I was getting out of the taxi. The view was indeed breath-taking. Away from the heat of Chennai, the place was pleasing to anyone. The tracks on the foothills, hill themselves very imposing and cloud on the hill tops looked straight out of a painting.

The two trains came and went. After this, we completed the formality of signing registers etc. to stay for couple of days in the university. The taxi bill came to Rs 250 which I promptly paid. It came to me as a surprise when the driver returned Rs 100 back reminding me of the payment in the petrol bunk. All I could think was why are people so presumptuous when comes to judging the taxi (or auto) drivers on their honesty. By nature, I trust people; this gesture gave me all the more reasons to do so.

Unimpressed by the incident, my cousin continued to defend his side while I did the same on my side.

Yesterday, I was going through some of the short stories of Ruskin Bond which are set on rural India. The mundane background which every Indian can connect to, in his stories, takes you into times and minds of the characters. His stories revolve around serendipitous encounters which leave a lasting impression. The taxi driver and his honesty will be cherished for a long time. The stories narrate about a chanced meeting with a stranger, finding something that fascinates him about the stranger, and in many cases the stranger is lost in the wilderness of the crowd. Anything could fascinate the narrator, from a coy smile of a little girl to benevolence of a thief. Reading the fiction, I sensed a déjà vu. I was reminded this little encounter in Bangalore about four to five years back.

It was the beginning of my 11^th standard, fresh out of 10^th standard board examination, and also fresh into preparation for IIT-JEE. A ninety minute eventless ‘journey’ was part of my daily routine to travel from my coaching institute in South Bangalore to my uncle’s place in the North. Leaning against the window, if I was lucky enough to get a window seat, staring into the city of blinding lights (forgive me, I’m a big U2 fan) and watching the bus conductor battle through the impatient crowd was the only adventure I could be a part of.

There was this small stretch of about 2 km, which I usually had to travel by ‘local’ auto for just three bucks. It was about ten in the evening and I was running a little late. Mechanically, I got down from the bus and headed to the ‘local’ auto stand. In a bid to save the precious one buck, I was inquiring the auto driver about the fare.

Just then, I heard a voice coming from inside the auto, “forget about three rupees or four rupees, come inside, I will pay.” Confounded, I said, “huh?”
“get into the auto…”, he sounded very friendly
“but three….”
Before I could complete, he said, “I told you I will pay.”

Seeing no danger, with couple of more people in the auto, and a busy street, I got in. The twenty something man sounded very excited and in high sprits. On the way I learnt that he was doing research on Tuberculosis in a research lab nearby. I have absolutely no idea what makes anyone so upbeat. He was more cheerful than I can ever be. He asked me my name, still confused, I replied, “Shankar”. “Ok Shankar, I’m _____(I don’t remember). So, what are you doing here?” I gave a brief intro. His excitement overpowered the noisy auto probably running on kerosene. I told him my stop will arrive in couple of minutes and have to get off. He said, “Ah…its ok just gimme your phone no. I will call you sometime.” He hurriedly took out a dairy and wrote my number down. He looked like a professional.

Then, the auto stopped at the petrol bunk where I was supposed to get off. I was paying three bucks as the stranger ‘more than just’ insisted the he will pay the driver. I couldn’t utter a word clearly. The auto driver asked me (in Kannada), “aur kodtara?” (Is he paying). I said, “yaako gothilla” (I don’t know why). He shouted from inside, “get home safely, I will take care.” Others in the auto were smiling, I will never know if they were smiling at me or at him. I said, “Fine” and crossed the street towards my uncle’s place. Blissful that I saved three bucks, began wondering who that person was……and I am still wondering…

The day is here……my blog’s first birthday. The daily chime. Technically this should have been my 366^th post, lapse of enthusiasm, lethargy and lack of creativity has reduces that number to 30 or so. But….I have survived for a year. Considering most of my friends who have given up on blogging or have 5-6 posts for the whole year, I am standing tall among the ruins. Click on the links below to go to my favorite posts.

Feb. 22 happens to be birthday of Scouting movement founder, Baden Powell. I was in scouting movement for a good 5 years. That doesn’t include stint as a cub in my 4^th and 5^th standard. I did have excellent time as a scout in my school. Long live scouting. “Be Prepared” scouts.

My favorite post in the blog is “Prized Possessions”. Unfortunately, it has not seen any comments yet. The post began as an attempt to write for saarang’s production coordinatorship but ended up something totally different. Following closely behind is “My Mondays to Fridays” I was happy that Ashwin aka Baswi aka bus found it as best of all my posts. My first three posts, “The sound of music”, “Assimilative Indian culture” and “Game theory…what have we got to do with it?” are among my favorites too. As a newbie in blogging, I guess I was budding with ideas. On a serious note, “Resposibilities..forgotten” was a post on plight of victims of govt. misadministration.

The most publicized posts of mine have been “Message From dean Students” and “Why did saarang have a bitter end?” Ended up spamming a lot of people to make sure the “message” reaches everyone.

Last year,

Things that have improved,
Not a teenager anymore…..a lot more mature …still gonna be 18 till I die!!!
Photography skills…scroll down the blog to check it out
Avg. no of movies watched in a month
Collection of music and more entries into “must watch” movies list.

Things that have been the same,
Readership of the blog……1 all along, that’s myself.
No. of girlfriends and Cgpa…..these two go together…acads and babes have the same T9, check it out
Still as big a fan of U2 and Bee Gees.

Thing that have declined,
Attendance in the class
Avg. no of sleeping hours
Time spend doing anything productive
Respect for Saarang newsletter….reduced it to page 3.

I hope to post more frequently in my blog this year around. It wasn’t my New Year resolution, may well be the birthday resolution. Thank you all.

Read this post before the comic strip. I know this comes a week too late, but wanted to put it up. I admit that this is not as good as the previous one, do comment anyway. This is what must have happened about 50 years ago…..to make things clear, calvin is the person who pulled the plug the other day (at the led zep concert).

A month back, I visited the place where I did my twelve years of schooling, a place i stayed for my first sixteen years of my life. Here are some of the pics I took. Western Ghat are one of 18 hot-spots of bio-diversity in the world (UNO recognised). Kudremukh is in the heart of western ghats. Eastern Himalayas is the only other hot-spot in India. The iron ore mines in Kudremukh has been ordered to shut down ro prevent any further destruction to the eco-system. It should be seen as a major step in India’s effort to environmental conservation. Here is the glimpse of the forest that surrounds Kudremukh.

Hanumangundi Falls…..

Inside the Bhagwathi Forests….

Amidst the trees…..

Picturesque, isn’t it?

Bangalore will be renamed Bengaluru in about a year. The usual stuff of “what’s in a name?” is running around the news channels these days. TOI reported that move will help English accept the words ending with a vowel in its dictionary. The local historians claim that this move is for the sentiments of local people. Yet another reason is that the officials couldn’t find any other way to celebrate the anniversary. Instead of the concentrating on core issues surrounding Bangalore, they sought a superficial one. No one promised that International Airport will be completed, no one promised that roads will be improved, no one promised that Bangalore Mysore express way will be completed. When there are million other things to look forward to, we (its actually, ‘they’) chose to look behind to please people.
Bangalore has always been Bengaluru to local-ites. When I speak in Kannada, I always say ‘Bengaluru’. Every one says “namma Bengaluru huduga’ (our Bangalore boy), when Rahul Dravid scores a century or Kumble or Srinath take five wicket hauls. It the same with Mysore (every one calls it maisuru) and Manglore (Mangaluru). The claim of the name being changed to protect regional, cultural or linguistic integrity is baseless or should I call it hilarious.
Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata, Madras to Chennai is OK in the sense that the number of syllables doesn’t change. But when you are adding extra syllable to make it Bengaluru, it gets painful. Let me not get started on Thiruvananthapuram. This is perhaps the longest proper noun I have written in this blog. We all have nicks in our colleges just to get rid of the extra syllables. It’s like carrying a few extra pounds.
Why don’t they just go back further in the history and call Bangalore, Bendhakaluru. That was indeed what it was called years and years ago.
It is still Bombay high court, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras. Changing names is a hassle, which not every one wants to go through.
In my first year in college, we had to be volunteers for NSS. In the intro speech, the head talked about our country being India in some places and Bharat in others. We, as NSS members, are responsible to make Bharat India. I really did not like the metaphor of comparing the under-developed India to Bharat. Just because it’s not English doesn’t mean the word should represent something that lacks richness. Change or no change in name, Bangalore is going to be the same. The Kannada name, Bengaluru, will neither make it inferior nor will it make the language superior. I don’t see a reason why the Kannada activists find solace in making people call the city by its local name when the city has an international brand image. It is not going to make people learn Kannada, we will still call the city Bengaluru when we speak Kannada. Others simply can’t pronounce it, will not take the trouble either.
Alas, I should say that it is just the question of getting used to. It may take about 5-6 year for the name to sink in…till then it will be the good old Bangalore. I like the name chennai, but not mumbai or kolkata, the older names were better. I don’t think, Bengaluru will ever be my favorite.