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Thursday, January 19, 2006
Names
Quiz question: in which city would you find the following places: Laxmi Chowk, Ferozpur Road, Dhaniram Road, Charing Cross, The Mall, Bharat Nagar, Ram Gali, Lord Saab Ka Daftar?
Answer: Lahore. Many of these places were actually renamed by the Pakistan government -- Bharat Nagar became Pakistan Nagar, for example -- but none of the changes worked, and they are still referred to by their old names by the people of Lahore, which is how they like them. This is a city, I've noted, that prides itself on its culture and its history, and religion isn't as big a deal as its made out to be. This is just one illustration, of course, and I'm sure counter-illustrations can be found. But this is what struck me.
It was Murtaza Razvi, who I've also quoted here and here, who brought this to my attention.
Answer: Lahore. Many of these places were actually renamed by the Pakistan government -- Bharat Nagar became Pakistan Nagar, for example -- but none of the changes worked, and they are still referred to by their old names by the people of Lahore, which is how they like them. This is a city, I've noted, that prides itself on its culture and its history, and religion isn't as big a deal as its made out to be. This is just one illustration, of course, and I'm sure counter-illustrations can be found. But this is what struck me.
It was Murtaza Razvi, who I've also quoted here and here, who brought this to my attention.
