Chennai: What's in a name? The Shakespearian adage reverberates across Chennai on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its re-christening by saying a permanent goodbye to anglicised Madras.
The change in name has not made any impact in people's lives, their responses said when DC approached a cross section of Chennaites. The name Chennai is said to have derived from Chennaipattanam, a town near Fort St. George, built by the British in 1639. While most of the Chennaities say they don't prefer one name over the other, columnist and heritage activist known for his books on Chennai, V Sriram says, “Chennai or Madras doesn't make any difference to our lives”.
To do away with the unwanted legacy of colonial rule, renaming of cities in India started in 1947. Over the years, it became a matter of linguistic pride to reclaim the names of cities in the vernacular rather than hang on to the names previous colonial administrators left cities with. On July 17, 1996, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi announced in the state assembly that the state capital of Madras would from then on be known as Chennai.
“Both names are artificial,” said noted arts editor and cultural journalism teacher Sadanand Menon. Chennai creates an artificial illusion to old times. Name of the city is not important, what is more important is how liveable the city is, how good infrastructure, safety and civic amenities are. Urban life is supposed to be more organised than rural areas and more sympathetic to citizens. “But in Chennai, with its regular power cuts, shortage of drinking water and poor amenities is a bad city to live in. I am not bothered even if the name is changed to Mars or Venus,” said Menon.
According to Ramu Manivannan, political science professor of Madras University, Chennai is a traditional name. “Restoration of the old name marks the transition from Colonial to post-colonial times. “This also signifies the restoration and reassertion of identity. This has nothing much to do with Dravidian politics,” he said.
Most youngsters in the city say that they identify more with Chennai than Madras. "Chennai is a more cosmopolitan, inclusive and stylish name than Madras,” said Surabhe Selvan, an engineering student from the city.
