Shakespeare had once famously remarked that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Yet, naming roads and buildings after their favourite leaders and renaming cities and towns or de-anglicizing them continues to be a fashion among our ruling class. After Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Uttarakhand now comes Odisha. Even the language has been renamed Odia.
Undoubtedly, referring to one’s state and language in one’s own style does give a sense of pride, even if it happens to be tongue twister like Thiruvananthapuram as against the speaker friendly Trivandrum. Yet, it has to be ensured that this pride does not lead to linguistic fanaticism and quest for purity which has robbed languages such as Hindi and Urdu of its richness and beauty. The zealots failed to realize that a loud robust ‘Hoshiar’ is far more potent to keep the jawan alert rather than a timid ‘satark’ and a ‘Pradhan Mantri’ evokes much more respect than a ‘Wazir-E-Azam’, which sounds more akin to Sharbat-e-Azam.
Moreover, it is the development and inclusive growth and progress of the people of Odisha that should make one really proud than just the way the state’s name is pronounced.
Linguistic Purity
Former Minister Shahnawaz Hussein, who was recently in news for being denied and later granted visa by the United States, once recalled how as Minister for Food Processing (in the NDA Government), he was referred to by an Urdu purist at a conference as Wazir-E-Riyasat-Band Dabba.
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