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Of nature and nomenclature

Can you remember what these are? Ganga Godavari Janhavi Kshipra Brahmaputra Bhagirathi These are names of some prominent Indian Rivers. At least they were until Nina and Nino and some other Latin American names messed with their balance and left dust bowls or changed their path in some cases. There was a time in Indian culture when the parents of children (I am not sure there are parents of other kind) often named their offspring after these mighty water bodies that sprang from mighty mountains and glaciers... perhaps signaling their dreams of reliable life affirming output (from the next generation). Today unfortunately people think water comes from bottles. Alas - the naming conventions changed with the drying of the rivers or some other worldly phenomenon since now if you ask a guy on the street he may not know of these historic wonders. Also he does not have to since there is no water in his tap and has to pay exorbitant sums just to get the TATA tanker to drive up to his house so he can take a shower. So people have moved on to other names with dubious origins like Neal, Avi, etc.. while in the western world it has gone from saintly names like Michael or John to 50 cents, Snoop, Beyonce, Ludacris, Jordyn, Kaetlan et al. I have heard in the past of folks in certain South American impoverished nations naming their produce with names like Coca-Cola, Refrigerator, Ronald Reagan etc.. signifying their dreams and aspirations to have one. Is it borderline ludicrous or as Plato once said - what's in a name?
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  1. RajendraAugust 19, 2012 at 9:59 PM

    Plato sounds like a plateful,..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diamond HeadAugust 20, 2012 at 3:15 PM

    It appears that Plato was a dialog pioneer (along with his mentor Socrates) before Gabbar and Kalia came along.
    Speaking of which one wonders why his relationship did not work out with any dudettes of his time (platonic that is)?

    ReplyDelete

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