What does 9/11 mean? Does it mean 11th of September or 9th of November? All our lives, in Indian schools, which followed the British system of dating, the date was written as DDMMYY, and so 9/11 should mean 9th of November. But the American system of dating MMDDYY makes it September 11th and the media accepts it so. So what is the rational system of dating? The British system or the American system? By rejecting the old British or European system of dating, the Americans asserted their autonomy and independence. There was nothing rational about it. It reveals the human need for identity that surpasses the need for rationality.

Yet, when Bombay is renamed Mumbai and Madras is renamed Chennai and Bangalore is renamed Bengaluru, many intellectuals mock this as petty regionalism, not recognising the potent power of asserting identity. Logically we may frown upon it, but humans are not, and have never been, logical creatures. Emotions supersede rationality all the time.