Even as we hurtle towards December end and longingly stare a New Year ahead, certain things continue to remain the same
Even as we hurtle towards December end and longingly stare a New Year ahead, certain things continue to remain the same. For instance, our penchant for according undue importance to insignificant matters, wasting precious man hours and public money on naming and renaming infrastructure.
The recent decision to rechristen the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to add the word ‘Maharaj’ to them is a case in point. Following an eerily familiar script, the state government has decided to rechristen the airport and station to incorporate the word ‘Maharaj’. It’s a waste of time and money when upping infrastructure and amenities is the need of the hour.
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While ignoring core issues, such as completion or even initiation of certain projects that will help citizens, our leaders and political parties are engaging in debates over names. Considering the age-old script is followed, soon there would be marches and rallies on the streets with party members shouting why it is or isn’t important to incorporate the ‘Maharaj’ in the title. Cynical citizens will continue to laugh at such rallies, hoping these parties complete important projects in their lifetimes.
This is not to dismiss every amenity on the anvil, the strides taken towards development. But fighting over a project’s name is an infantile exercise.
Maybe our infra projects should be named after soldiers, who have sacrificed their lives for our country? That would be a befitting tribute. Maybe these projects should not be named after any person at all. Why can’t a facility simply be named after the area it is in? Why should everything be named after some person? Maybe our decision makers should take a lesson from Shakespeare’s immortal words: “What’s in a name…”