India and/or Bharat - Name controversy

A new discussion has started raging in my country of birth. What should be the name by which we should refer to it

(Picture taken from Times of India.)

I saw posts on Instagram and Twitter with persons suggesting one name was more relevant than the other.

Before going into the name for my country, let us look at the name of another country, Annikki’s country, called Finland which is also called Suomi. 

The people are referred to as Finns or in Finnish as Suomalainen. 

AI provided this answer as to the name of this 

country as per the Constitution.

The name of the country in the Finnish Constitution is the Republic of Finland, also known as Suomen tasavalta in Finnish.

AI also gave a response as to the historical name of this country:

The country Finland is commonly known by two names: Finland and Suomi. "Finland" is an foreign-language term for the country, which has been used internationally for many years. On the other hand, "Suomi" is the Finnish name for the country and is used by the native Finnish-speaking population.

 

The origin of the name "Suomi" dates back to ancient times when Finland was inhabited by Finnish tribes. The meaning of the word is not entirely clear, but it is believed to have originated from the Proto-Finnic term "suomaa," which means "swampland." This name likely reflects the country's landscape, featuring numerous lakes and forests.

The adoption of the name "Finland" in English came about through various historical and linguistic reasons. During the Middle Ages, the region was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Swedish name for the area was "Finland." This name then became widely known internationally when Finland was a part of the Swedish Kingdom.

Later, when Finland was under Russian rule in the early 19th century, the Finnish language began to gain prominence and recognition as a distinct identity. As a result, the Finnish name "Suomi" became more commonly used among the Finnish-speaking population.

Both names, "Finland" and "Suomi," are now commonly used to refer to the country, depending on the language being spoken. "Finland" is the primary foreign name, while "Suomi" is the Finnish name.

Is there any controversy in having two names - each with its own importance!

Take look at the Indian Constitution:

“The Constitution of India begins by saying ‘India that is Bharat’, the Hindi version says ‘Bharat that is India’.

The name mentioned in the Tamil version of the Indian Constitution is பாரதம் (Pāratam), which is the Tamil transliteration of the Sanskrit word भारत (Bhārata). The Tamil version of the Constitution was adopted in 1956, and it has the same legal status as the English version.

The word பாரதம் (Pāratam) is used throughout the Tamil version of the Constitution to refer to the country of India.

The Malayalam version of the Indian Constitution refers to the name of India and Bharat as ഭാരതം (Bhāratam). This is the Malayalam transliteration of the Sanskrit word भारत (Bhārata).

The Malayalam version of the Constitution was adopted in 1956, and it has the same legal status as the English version. The word ഭാരതം (Bhāratam) is used throughout the Malayalam version of the Constitution to refer to the country of India. For example, Article 1 of the Malayalam version states:

ഭാരതം, അതായത് ഇന്ത്യ, സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളുടെ യൂനിയനായിരിക്കും.

(Bhāratam, athāyat Intiya, saṃsthāngaḷuṭe yūniyanāyirikkum.)

Which translates to:

India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

The name ഭാരതം (Bhāratam) is also used in the Malayalam names of many government institutions and organizations, such as the ഭാരത സർക്കാർ (Bhāratha Sarkar; Government of India) and the ഭാരത തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് കമ്മീഷൻ (Bhāratha Tēraññjetuppu Kammīṣaṇ; Election Commission of India).

The use of the name ഭാരതം (Bhāratam) in the Malayalam version of the Constitution and in the names of government institutions and organizations reflects the long and rich history of Malayalam culture and language in India.

 In the Bengali version of the Indian Constitution, the name of India is "ভারত" (Bharat) and Bharat is also referred to as "ভারত গণরাজ্য" (Bharat Ganarajya).

When we wrote our book "The Titanic Called India" in 2015 we tackled this subject of names of cities at the start of our chapter on Bangalore.

We wrote:

Bengaluru:

A City in Self Immolation

The name Bangalore was officially changed to Bengaluru on the 1st of November 2015. 

 

Hundreds of Indian cities have had their names changed since India became independent in 1947. The latest round was the 11 cities in Karnataka State, of which Bengaluru was the largest.

 

They wondered why these cosmetic changes were done. 

 

It costs the country many crores to implement such a simple name change. As no one wants to oppose the mass mentality, and these sorts of changes, which have nothing to do with policies, development or growth, but are purely to get votes by pleasing an uneducated set of people run by useless emotions, this has become a national priority. 

 

It is an attempt to change history, because people do not appreciate history!

 

Bombay was changed to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Calcutta to Kolkota, Poona to Pune.

 

The question is who benefits from such changes! 

 

Nobody seems to care how much it costs as it appears they are not paying for it as it does not go out of their personal bank accounts. 

 

But someone is paying for it! It is everyone!

 

But then who cares?

 

Annikki said she did not like the new name. Jacob was indifferent. Since neither Annikki nor Jacob are taxpayers in India, their views do not matter. If this is what Bengaluruns liked, so be it! To hell with the cost!!!

Let us take look at this map of the subcontinent during Mahabharat times.

This video looks at the history of India every year.

It is also important to look at the oldest languages of the world and the oldest spoken language of the world as shown in this video.

Although Sanskrit and Tamil are the two oldest languages of 5000 years, the oldest spoken language is Tamil. Hindi and Urdu are relatively new languages.

There is no connection between the southern part of the subcontinet and the northern part in ancient Indian history. 

The Arayan culture is not native to India as Dravidian culture is. 

Hence the imposition of that era of history is totally disrespecting the indigenous Dravidian culture that prevailed here.

Also look at what is considered as the oldest spoken language in the world, which is Tamil. 

What respect is given to that part of our culture by choosing the name of Bharat for the country. 

So why not use the word of a living language and not a dead one? 

Pāratam!

The claim that India was derived from the colonial history has been debunked by a well researched article which linked the derivation of India from the name Indumathi. (The following was published in the Times of India.)

"Once upon a time, there was a princess called Indu (the moon) or Indumati (the full moon). Her brother was Bhoja, king of Vidarbha. She chose Aja, king of Ayodhya, as her husband. They had a child called Dasharatha. But then, one day, she died, startled by a flower that fell from heaven. Aja could not bear to live without her, and so died soon after, passing on the mantle of the throne to their young son. Dasharatha’s eldest son was Ram, born of the senior queen Kaushalya. His second son was Bharat born of his favourite queen Kaikeyi.

Kaikeyi tried to secure Dasharatha’s throne for Bharat using her cunning, but Bharat had too much integrity to accept it. He insisted Ram inherit the crown, as per the law. Ram established the legendary Ram-rajya, and ruled the land we now call India, named after his grandmother Indumati, and Bhaarat, named after his brother Bharat. These names remind us that Ram’s kingdom was full of women who were much loved by their husbands, and brothers who did not fight brothers over property."

What are the arguments being made for and against changing the name of India to Bharat?

The argument for changing the name of India to Bharat is primarily based on assumed the  historical and cultural reasons. Here are some key arguments quoted in favour of the change:

1. Historical and Cultural Continuity: Bharat is claimed to be the ancient Sanskrit name of India, with roots dating back to several millennia. Supporters argue that changing the name to Bharat would reflect the country's rich historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing its deep-rooted traditions and heritage.

2. National Identity: Renaming the country to Bharat is seen by some as a way to reinforce a sense of national identity among its citizens. By adopting the "indigenous" name, proponents argue that it will strengthen the unity and pride of the diverse Indian population.

3. Symbolic Representation: Advocates believe that the name Bharat carries important symbolism that aligns with the values and ethos of the nation. The name is supposedly associated with India's ancient Vedic civilization and signifies a greater connection to the country's timeless heritage.

4. Indian Languages and Vernacular: Bharat is widely used in various Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali, among others, as the name for India. Supporters argue that adopting Bharat as the official name would eliminate the language bias associated with the “English” term "India."

However, there are also arguments against changing the name to Bharat. Here are some of the key counter arguments:

1. Historical and Global Recognition: The name India has been widely recognized and used for centuries in both historical contexts and global interactions. Changing the name to Bharat will lead to confusion or require significant effort and resources to update official documents, maps, treaties, and international agreements.

2. Linguistic Diversity: India is known for its linguistic diversity, with numerous languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. The name India has become a common unifying factor across different linguistic groups, allowing for ease of communication and identification among the diverse population.

3. Political and Administrative Challenges: Implementing a name change on a national level requires significant administrative efforts, including amending the Constitution, updating legal documents, changing the names of government bodies, and altering educational curricula. Such a process can be time-consuming, costly, and may face resistance from various stakeholders.

4. Prioritization of Other Issues: Critics argue that changing the name of the country to Bharat may divert attention and resources from more pressing socioeconomic and developmental issues that require immediate focus. They believe that the government's efforts should be concentrated on addressing these challenges instead of a symbolic name change.

Overall, the decision to change the name of India to Bharat involves weighing historical and assumed cultural heritage against practical considerations, administrative challenges, and the potential impact on national and international recognition.

It is interesting to see how Amitabh  Bachan introduced the Shillong Chamber Choir when they sang “Vande Mataram” on his tv program. 

Amitabh Bachan has tweeted more than once about changing the name from India to Bharat. Would he be singing "Proud to be a Bharatian" and delete his stand that it is "Proud to be an Indian”?

Secondly how much would Amitabh Bachan hand over to the exchequer from his "personal wealth" to change the name from India to Bharat.

This is the ultimate in political sycophancy, and not any stand on principles. 

Narendra Modi went on this tirade to change the name when the Opposition Alliance this year made I.N.D.I.A. their acronym for their stand against him.

All it shows is childishness.

Modi has a mass following of people who have no other claim to fame than other being blind Hindutva bhakths. 

These are same people who believe that Modi connected a pipe to the drain and used the "gas" from the drain to heat the tea for his "mythical" tea stand at a "mythical" railway station!

I wish Modi would give this appropriate high technology gas from drain technology to millions of his bhakths! 

It may save us a lot of oil and gas imports!

Is India to be governed by these blind bhakths or on the basis of historical and economic considerations.

The first estimate for the change of name is Rs. 12000 crores. This is unlikely be the final value, but will be manyfold times this estimate. 

Let Amitabh Bachan, Gautam Adani, the Ambani brothers, suggested by some as being Modi's financiers, foot this bill.

Why pass this cost on to the ordinary people of India?

With the large proportion of the Indian population living in gross poverty, can a country afford such a luxury. 

In what way will they benefit? 

Will it give them food, or shelter, clothing, education, safety, social security.

I recently addressed a leading newspaper editor on by when social security would become a feature in life in our country. 

The answer was unequivocal - NEVER!

Take a look at the leading world indicators between the two countries of my interest, Finland and India/Bharat/Pāratam.

The country should make it its first priority to make it the leading in at least a few of these indicators which would directly reflect the well being of the people.

Once that is done it is my personal opinion that people will not “time waste” on irrelevant exercises as changing the name of our country.

As a footnote it is interesting to who are the most wanting for India to give up its name! It is none other than Pakistan. :-)

The transboundary Indus river basin has a total area of 1.12 million km2 distributed between Pakistan (47 percent), India (39 percent), China (8 percent) and Afghanistan (6 percent). Pakistanis feel that they should have been given the name, India, as it is  the country through which the Indus River mainly runs through.

"The Islamic Republic of India also known as Pakistan"?

What would be the reaction of Modi and his bhakths (and Amitabh Bachman) to handing over the name "INDIA" to Pakistan on a golden platter? :-)

Nobel Prize - Living Green in India

I return to subject of the environmental chaos in India - this is not a political statement but a continuation of what we have written about continuously for over 30 years. 

We are lucky today to live in the 4th most Living Green country in the world, Finland,

India comes in near the bottom of the global rankings at 168th place worldwide, and only Afghanistan (178th place) ranks below India in Southern Asia. Leading the region is Bhutan (107th), with relatively high scores in biodiversity & habitat protection. (Many Indians will claim that is a western conspiracy against India to run it down!)

Yesterday, I read in The Wire this article by Elisha Vermin:

‘If Only the Government Worked as Hard as Waste Pickers’

Hundreds of scrap dealers are recycling most of Delhi’s plastic waste while being on the run from the government.

Elisha Vermani

Bahadurgarh: Among the flurry of lush green farmlands at the Delhi-Haryana border, hundreds of scrap dealers are involved in the process of recycling nearly all of Delhi’s plastic waste tucked safely away from the city’s eyes.

A few kilometres from Tikri Kalan’s PVC market, one of the biggest legitimate plastic markets in Delhi, acres of agricultural land in Shiddipur and Lowa Kalan has been turned into an open plastic market. Each trader in this area deals with nearly 300-500 kg of plastic waste per day.

 

According to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi generates over 600 tonnes of plastic waste daily. Most of this waste is brought to plastic markets like the one at Tikri where these dealers or aardhis segregate and reduce it to shreds before selling it forward. They are the most important link in the plastic recycling chain, and also the ones facing the most harassment.

Running nearly entirely as an informal economy, aardhis have the skill and eye to sort the waste without any chemical testing or lab equipment. All they need is empty stretches of land. However, they are constantly caught in a cat-and-mouse chase with the authorities. “First we were removed from Mundka, then from Kamruddin Nagar and they are still chasing us away even after we’ve crossed the Delhi border” said 38-year-old Rajesh, an aardhi at the Shiddipur market.

Rajesh and Bablu weren’t the only aardhis angry with the government. The huddle of two gradually swelled to about 15 men and a few women all expressing their frustration at the treatment they receive from the municipal corporation and National Green Tribunal officials. “They come and raze our temporary structures whenever they feel like it. I want to quit this profession now. If the government worked as hard as the waste pickers, the country would be elsewhere,” said 55-year-old Mangeram, who lost most of his business when he left the market at Mundka.

Aardhis believe that they are not the problem, but a solution to a problem. “The plastic is not going to decompose itself. If we don’t clean this mess then there will be heaps lying around in the city,” said 25-year-old Sonu, who works with his father at the market in Lowa.

Truckloads of plastic waste is unloaded at the market every few hours.

The aardhis told me that it’s not just Delhi’s waste that makes it way to these plastic markets. The government imports plastic waste, charges a custom duty on it and then the dealers pay an 18% GST on subsequent trading.

 

“Nobody is trying to shut down the bigger factories contributing to pollution in broad daylight because their owners can pay off the officials. We are preventing pollution on the other hand but nobody cares,” a 36-year-old aardhi who did not want to be named, said.

 

These traders work under the scorching sun without access to toilets or a clean resting place in the absence of a refuge away from the piles of waste. While they pride themselves on keeping Delhi “from coming to a standstill, trapped under its own garbage”, most of them seem to have lost hope and plan to move back to their villages if they face further harassment by government officials.

It is ironic that their contribution to waste management doesn’t guarantee them any financial or personal security. To quote Kaveri Gill, the author of Of Plastic and Poverty, who was one of the first few to document Delhi’s informal recycling markets: “If we can’t help them, leave them alone.”

Developed in collaboration with Ekaansh Arora. 

As I am, by profession, a Plastics Technologist, this article specifically interested me. Now that I am retired for over 15 years, the only subject in plastics I do still follow is the recycling of plastics as it is a highly controversial one. 

Plastics as a material is demonised rather than the people who misuse plastics.

When I was working in England at the British Rubber and Plastics Research Association (RAPRA) of Great Britain, one of my several projects was to counter the complaint by many professions, especially archiects that claimed that plastics did not have any durability!

One of my tasks was to prove to the the scientific world that plastics was a durable material. I searched all around England to find proof of the durability of plastics.

The oldest use of plastics I found then was an acrylic dome roof light system in the centre of London which had then lasted 30 years with no problems. 

This was documented in a paper "Weathering of Plastics" published in October 1968 in the journal Plastics which was authored by Dr. Crowder of the Building Research Station and myself. It shows a photograph that I captured during my time at the research centre.

Over the two years of my study, which took me across and up and down the English country, I found many uses of plastics which had withstood the elements and performed better than any comparable material. 

I stood on the roof of Wembley Stadium, confident that I was standing on a thin reinforced plastic sheeting with no loss in its strength as the sheer drop was many tens of metres!

I authored over 11 major reviews which covered all the plastics materials and their durability that were exposed to the elements.

That established the lovengity of plastics and should have been the guiding light to users that plastics was going to be a problem if it was used in applications where they would not be degraded! 

In 2022 the production of plastics was estimated as 450 million tonnes. Of this, it is estimated that 44% is used for packaging, a totally unnecessary waste of an most important resource!

Unfortunately, plastics became fashionable and started to be used in disposable packaging, something that should never have been permitted. The first step should have been that the use of plastics for packaging should have been subjected to the obsolescence law.

Today we are suffering the environmental consequences of the misuse of plastics.

When I returned to India I saw the use of plastics was becoming rampant in packaging. I took up this matter with the late Lavraj Kumar who was the Advisor to the Ministry of Petrochemicals. He listened but was powerless in the face of political pressure.

It was very appropriate those days to push the use of plastics for packaging of consumable foodstuffs as the losses due to infestation and rodents due to poor packaging and storage was enormous. 

Plastics became the life saver but it grew and grew unchecked with no control on the environmental impact.

But India had its own solution as the jerrypuranawalla moved street by street collecting the waste materials and these were then regenerated back to useful materials, going down the chain till finally it was used in non critical applications.

Hence, India had a solution and as can be seen from the map it topped the world in the recycling of plastics. 

I still remember driving in Bombay from Sion towards Chamber where, on one side of the road, there was a "plastics ghat" where used plastics film could be seen drying in the sun after washing till it was then sent for re-extrusion and generation into plastics granules for further use.

This scavenging and regeneration provided employment for many thousands of people around  the country. The chain was perfect as everyone benefitted financially.

The purpose should have been to develop this as a regular industrial activity with adequate input of technology, but it has stayed for generations in this unorganised fashion.

It is, therefore, no wonder that the recyclers of Delhi are treated as persona non-grata instead of valuable contributors to the Indian economy.

This 1993 article written by me, which appeared in ”Findians Briefings”called for "Western Recycling Doomed" was reposted in our blog in 2020.

When we wrote our blog entry "The Garbage Dump - India" we pointed out that the Environmental Minister of that time, Jairam Ramesh, had stated that India should be given the Nobel Prize for  the filth of the world!

If there is a Nobel prize for filth, India will win it: Jairam Ramesh

In this, plastics is a major contributor. 

If the authorities are not able to control it with the correct approach in technology, do not punish those who, by their own initiative, are trying to reduce the impact on the environment.

I firmly stand with the people, who despite all odds, are part of the chain reclaiming plastics in India!

Life of Annikki - Another facet

 

In the past few weeks I have given you a glimpse of the success of the “Laughing Goddess” Annikki in a variety of fields. 

Cake designing - Edible Art 1

Other food designing - Edible Art 2

Drawing and painting

Interiors designing

Garden designing 

Crocheting

That is not the extent of the talents of this fascinating personality..

I give here her work as a researcher and an author in producing books on a variety  of subjects.

Her first book was about the last stages of her life in India. She faith in God was reinforced by this experience. So much so that when she returned tpo Finland she resigned from the Finnish church as she lived by her principles!

The second book was authored jointly with me on how to survive in Finland. This book was produced after 10 years of intensive research by both of us. There was no Google or AI those days so research meant physical research.

She then carried an intensive course of 4 years on Montessori Edication between 1991 and 1995 which she completed with distinction of 98%.

 

She then wrote her comprehensive book on raising a child the Montessori way applicable for children between 0 and 6 years.

She helped me design and prepare the Coffee Table  Book for the Golden Reunion of my school Class of 1959.

The next book she authored in two stages, first only in Finnish and the 2nd edition was in both Finnish and English on freedom of speech in Finland. In this she used her Finnish sarcasm tone fullest extent, butI was not competent to get the same effect with the English translation!

Then with me and Sriradhakrishnan Polsetti, she authored the book on Edible Art, both in English and Finnish. Here her photographic skills were also evident, a subject I have not touched upon in this series.

She jointly authored our book after our final visit to India.

Besides this she has authored many tens of articles on a variety of subjects published in many publications, especially our fortnightly newsletter, Findians Briefings, which had a circulation of about 80000 readers worldwide. 

I recently showed you in my previous blog, Face to Face - Kanha, one of her articles published in our Oulu newspaper, Kaleva

Because of many moves of residence in the last three years, I have lost many of her articles and also lost a lot of her research work on a variety of subjects such as music, religious intolerance, yoga, nutrition, and many more subjects covering all aspects of life.

Her hand written notes were all in shorthand Finnish so I was not able to understand most them, and she had lost the ability to decipher them. 

There is a saying that one whose TV size is bigger than one’s bookshelf needs to be listened to with great caution. 

In our case, Annikki’s bookshelf is 30 times mine on such a variety of subjects as religion, nutrition, gardens, recipes, interior designing, and filled with such great authors as R. K. Narayan and Jim Corbett. 

She has almost the entire collection of books by and about Maria Montessori and the Montessori system of education. 

She also has almost the entire collection of books by Ellen G. White and her prophetic works.

Like me, she grew up on the annual diet of the Manorama Year Book, so her general knowledge was vast. The difference between her and me was that I shouted  my "knowledge" from the mountain top but she used her knowledge in daily life to get things done!

She has been my friend, guide and counsellor on almost every important event in our lives. She has never been politically oriented but she stood for human rights and dignity of the human being.

When we had the recent spat with the O-India Ry, she very quickly advised me to terminate links as this association did not fit with our Guiding Principles. 

I had no hesitation in following her advice as she has never been wrong!