Names
As a child, I had ALWAYS used English sounding addresses in letter writing exercises. For instance: Brown Street, Mayfair towers, etc. Andheri east or Jogeshwari west were too mundane for me. I used to make up these addresses and proceed with utterly ‘unromantic’ letters to the editor about the increased incidence of dogs in the city.
I was of the opinion that the increased incidence of dogs in the city could not transpire in so English a name as Brown Street as opposed to MG Road.
What is it that names do? Associations with places or mythical places from books contribute to opinion about foreign sounding names. So a Dalhousie sounds so much more interesting than a Dhampur.
At most times, places have History. You have been a particular person in a certain street in a certain city. If you meet the people you knew in that city in some other city, then certain equations change. You feel distanced because the place you are in, comes with its own baggage.
At times like these, you end up depending on foreign sounding names. They sound exotic, yet familiar because you know them from books. They can not mean anything other than what they are supposed to. Indian names, often have layers and sub-layers of myth and stories, meanings and nuances. Names in Mumbai invariably mean something. I do not know what, even after 21 years in this city.
