INSIGHT INDIA - RENAMING ACHIEVEMENTS

In Portland, Oregon, they told me Madras was a little way north. There's no Madras any more in India though. The name was changed to Chennai. Bombay and Calcutta too were renamed Mumbai and Kolkata. As this kind of patriotic progress continues in India more names 'smelling' of foreign rule, some known worldwide, will vanish. And soon Bangalore - of 'Bangalored' fame - will be (un)known as Bengalooru.

To find those vanished names you'll have to go to less patriotic lands. Like the U.S. - which has no less than six Delhis, from towns to small communities. Besides, America has hundreds of place and street names in-sourced freely from across the world.

For those Indian politicians who thrive on instant achievements like changing city names, the patriotism meter reading for the U.S. is a big fat zero. But you can bet they are waiting for superpower numero uno to outsource the work, so that they can change Madras to Chennai and so on in the U.S.