7 ms·

Bengalūru, it has been 14 year since the name changed officially would appreciate if people stopped using the anglicized name of our city.

by vesh 7y ago

saagarjha 7y ago
Like it or not, Bangalore is significantly more recognizable than Bengaluru (for example, the Wikipedia page uses it). So I doubt it's going away any time soon…
dingo_bat 7y ago
I live here and hate the new name. It feels dumb to say it, whereas Bangalore sounds very modern. Kind of like Dilli vs Delhi.
- plibither8 7y ago
  Who knew you could also feel dumb by calling a city a certain name, and feel modern by calling it another?
- Alterlife 7y ago
  I live here too. I like the 'new' name, it has grown on me. I think it's endearing and friendly -- like a petname. "Namma Bengaluru" vs stiff-upper-lip British Bangalore. Putting my personal opinion aside, it's definitely not catching on: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Bengaluru,bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Bengaluru,bangalo... I still call it Bangalore in any formal setting.
  - dingo_bat 7y ago
    > I still call it Bangalore in any formal setting. It's kind of funny because I use Bengaluru in any official/formal setting but Bangalore when I'm talking with friends.
rorykoehler 7y ago
Bangalore is the English name. My city is called Dublin in English and Baile Átha Cliath in our native language of Irish. As an Irishman I understand better than most the resentment towards the English but really this is not a battle worth fighting. Both names are correct in their respective languages.
- vesh 7y ago
  I don't have any resentment towards English. The city has been around for as long as the English language and nobody local never called it with the anglicized name if anything it would be more of a correction.
  - rorykoehler 7y ago
    My point was more that every language uses different names for places. It's like saying we can't call Germany Germany anymore because Germans call it Deutschland.
  - sharmi 7y ago
    My take on this: Though Bangalore is a relatively new name, it has been deeply ingrained in recent collective memory and literature. So it needs some time to change. Other cases in point, Bombay -> Mumbai. Madras -> Chennai, Calcutta -> Kolkata. While these changes have been adopted in some circles, the anglized form is still in use in many places. Especially, places and instances that have history pertaining to the past few centuries. Also, in IT field, Bangalore symbolizes more than the city. It is a standin for the Indian IT industry and it's boom in general. It has a certain connotation and degree of recognizability that may be lost when using Bengaluru. Still with time, it too would change.
- keerthiko 7y ago
  Bengaluru is now the official name in the English language. Bangalore is the British Empire's English name. It is a relic of colonization that is worth leaving behind. This battle is completely worth fighting. If Ireland officially lists Dublin as Baile Atha Cliath for addresses, the airport, and for international English references, I will use that. This is not about two different languages, but of erasure.
Permit 7y ago
Using the anglicized name in English doesn't strike me as particularly egregious. (Presumably you don't say "Espanol" or "Francais" when describing other languages in English. Or describe "China" as "Zhongguo"). However, they should probably at least correct the "Banglore" misspellings in the FAQ.
- adora 7y ago
  oops, fixed. thx :)
niyaven 7y ago
Lots of city names are translated. Even in India people would probably say "Rome" instead of "Roma", "Moscow" instead of "Moskvá". And it's not only in English, Italian would say "Tolosa" instead of "Toulouse", German would say "Mailand" instead of "Milan", French would say "Cracovie" instead of "Kraków" an so on...
- kurtisc 7y ago
  What about Bombay, Peking, Persia, Siam, Ceylon, Burma, Leningrad?
_emacsomancer_ 7y ago
And when you talk (in English or Kannada) about Rome, do you write (and say) 'Roma'? When you talk about Moscow, do you say 'Moskvá'? (Even closer to home, do you say 'naaii dillii'?)
- pritambaral 7y ago
  While I agree with you in general, you would have a better case with a different city than New Delhi, because most Indians simply never use the full English name in informal parlance — it's always been 'Dilli' (in Hindi) and/or 'Deli' (in inf. Indian English). In fact, the term (and equivalents of) 'Old Delhi' see more common use than 'New Delhi', largely because the latter is the one most commonly referred to as just 'Delhi'.
  - _emacsomancer_ 7y ago
    Talking with people who live in Delhi (in both English and Hindi), I got the sense that 'dilli' is becoming increasingly rare. I am overall rather tired of the city-renaming craze. It seems like expensive bike-shedding at best. You end up with ridiculous scenarios like renaming 'Madras' to 'Chennai', where 'Madras' in fact is a native, historic Tamil name for the city, and 'Chennai' is the name of Telugu collaborator with the British.
achow 7y ago
'Bangalore' vs 'Bengaluru' by people of Karnataka - the state of which Bangalore is capital of. Bangalore: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bangalo... Bengaluru: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bengaluru https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bengalu...
- keerthiko 7y ago
  please look at it for "all time" (that google has data for) Bangalore: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&q=bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&... Bengaluru: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&q=bengaluru https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&... This is a post-colonial battle still being fought, and India's wish to shed its colonial shackles deserves to be respected.
  - achow 7y ago
    My one year Google Trend time range was deliberate. When both 'Bangalore' and 'Bengaluru' is equally familiar with public AND 'Bengaluru' is being pushed by govt institutions, we need to see which name is still in trend with locals. 'Bangalore' name should have been at zero if all the locals were using the new name. If the time range is increased to the time when Bengaluru was not yet a familiar term then it is quite obvious that this new name would trend upwards to the current time.
    - keerthiko 7y ago
      I know it was deliberate, and deliberately hiding the story. Certainly several locals will prefer the name they grew up with. Some find it rolls off the tongue better when speaking English, or just because they used Bangalore for many years already. No such change will ever have 100% coverage in such a short time, yet I think it's worth consciously respecting. Locals will use both interchangeably because it's often used informally, but I think for anything official, it's important to use the correct and official name, which is Bengaluru. Such as here, this is not an informal post by YC but an official announcement.
bprasanna 7y ago
This is not the right place to show your love for the name. We should be happy about YC considering Bangalore/Bengaluru as a place to conduct interviews. Your point deviates the intention of the post.
srean 7y ago
Its been 70 years since the British left, I wonder why the sudden resurgence to go back to pre-British names. Bengaluru was the name for the place prior to the British, but I would argue its the British that made 'Bangalore: the garden city' out of it, that touch still remains although diminishing everyday.
simula67 7y ago
I think this is particularly uncharitable. YC is probably planning to invest in companies in India, we should be more charitable and not be unnecessarily antagonistic. Also, I think this is unrealistic. Do you expect others to properly use the names of all cities ? For example : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhikode https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhikode. The 'zh' sound is not present outside of a few South Indian languages. It is OK if others call it Calicut IMO EDIT: It seems the OP has edited the comment to make it more polite. Thanks OP.
Uhhrrr 7y ago
It would help your case if you were to write, "It has been 14 years since the name changed officially, and I would appreciate it if people stopped using the anglicized name of our city."
seeker_ 7y ago
Seriously, you want to do this here? This is a hackernews thread not an equivalent on twitter or FB.
GordonS 7y ago
I know a lot of Indians in Mumbai - most of them still call it Bombay!
absolute_hacker 7y ago
A day in the life of an Indian tech guy - excitingly clicks a HackerNews link relevant to India - "YC Interviews in India"! Finds a flame war on Bangalore vs Bangaluru - wait what? True Story!!

Bengalūru, it has been 14 year since the name changed officially would appreciate if people stopped using the anglicized name of our city.

by vesh 7y ago

Bengalūru, it has been 14 year since the name changed officially would appreciate if people stopped using the anglicized name of our city.

saagarjha 7y ago

Like it or not, Bangalore is significantly more recognizable than Bengaluru (for example, the Wikipedia page uses it). So I doubt it's going away any time soon…

dingo_bat 7y ago

I live here and hate the new name. It feels dumb to say it, whereas Bangalore sounds very modern. Kind of like Dilli vs Delhi.

plibither8 7y ago
Who knew you could also feel dumb by calling a city a certain name, and feel modern by calling it another?
Alterlife 7y ago
I live here too. I like the 'new' name, it has grown on me. I think it's endearing and friendly -- like a petname. "Namma Bengaluru" vs stiff-upper-lip British Bangalore. Putting my personal opinion aside, it's definitely not catching on: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Bengaluru,bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Bengaluru,bangalo... I still call it Bangalore in any formal setting.
- dingo_bat 7y ago
  > I still call it Bangalore in any formal setting. It's kind of funny because I use Bengaluru in any official/formal setting but Bangalore when I'm talking with friends.

rorykoehler 7y ago

Bangalore is the English name. My city is called Dublin in English and Baile Átha Cliath in our native language of Irish. As an Irishman I understand better than most the resentment towards the English but really this is not a battle worth fighting. Both names are correct in their respective languages.

vesh 7y ago
I don't have any resentment towards English. The city has been around for as long as the English language and nobody local never called it with the anglicized name if anything it would be more of a correction.
- rorykoehler 7y ago
  My point was more that every language uses different names for places. It's like saying we can't call Germany Germany anymore because Germans call it Deutschland.
- sharmi 7y ago
  My take on this: Though Bangalore is a relatively new name, it has been deeply ingrained in recent collective memory and literature. So it needs some time to change. Other cases in point, Bombay -> Mumbai. Madras -> Chennai, Calcutta -> Kolkata. While these changes have been adopted in some circles, the anglized form is still in use in many places. Especially, places and instances that have history pertaining to the past few centuries. Also, in IT field, Bangalore symbolizes more than the city. It is a standin for the Indian IT industry and it's boom in general. It has a certain connotation and degree of recognizability that may be lost when using Bengaluru. Still with time, it too would change.
keerthiko 7y ago
Bengaluru is now the official name in the English language. Bangalore is the British Empire's English name. It is a relic of colonization that is worth leaving behind. This battle is completely worth fighting. If Ireland officially lists Dublin as Baile Atha Cliath for addresses, the airport, and for international English references, I will use that. This is not about two different languages, but of erasure.

Permit 7y ago

Using the anglicized name in English doesn't strike me as particularly egregious. (Presumably you don't say "Espanol" or "Francais" when describing other languages in English. Or describe "China" as "Zhongguo"). However, they should probably at least correct the "Banglore" misspellings in the FAQ.

adora 7y ago
oops, fixed. thx :)

niyaven 7y ago

Lots of city names are translated. Even in India people would probably say "Rome" instead of "Roma", "Moscow" instead of "Moskvá". And it's not only in English, Italian would say "Tolosa" instead of "Toulouse", German would say "Mailand" instead of "Milan", French would say "Cracovie" instead of "Kraków" an so on...

kurtisc 7y ago
What about Bombay, Peking, Persia, Siam, Ceylon, Burma, Leningrad?

_emacsomancer_ 7y ago

And when you talk (in English or Kannada) about Rome, do you write (and say) 'Roma'? When you talk about Moscow, do you say 'Moskvá'? (Even closer to home, do you say 'naaii dillii'?)

pritambaral 7y ago
While I agree with you in general, you would have a better case with a different city than New Delhi, because most Indians simply never use the full English name in informal parlance — it's always been 'Dilli' (in Hindi) and/or 'Deli' (in inf. Indian English). In fact, the term (and equivalents of) 'Old Delhi' see more common use than 'New Delhi', largely because the latter is the one most commonly referred to as just 'Delhi'.
- _emacsomancer_ 7y ago
  Talking with people who live in Delhi (in both English and Hindi), I got the sense that 'dilli' is becoming increasingly rare. I am overall rather tired of the city-renaming craze. It seems like expensive bike-shedding at best. You end up with ridiculous scenarios like renaming 'Madras' to 'Chennai', where 'Madras' in fact is a native, historic Tamil name for the city, and 'Chennai' is the name of Telugu collaborator with the British.

achow 7y ago

'Bangalore' vs 'Bengaluru' by people of Karnataka - the state of which Bangalore is capital of. Bangalore: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bangalo... Bengaluru: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bengaluru https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=IN-KA&q=bengalu...

keerthiko 7y ago
please look at it for "all time" (that google has data for) Bangalore: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&q=bangalore https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&... Bengaluru: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&q=bengaluru https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN-KA&... This is a post-colonial battle still being fought, and India's wish to shed its colonial shackles deserves to be respected.
- achow 7y ago
  My one year Google Trend time range was deliberate. When both 'Bangalore' and 'Bengaluru' is equally familiar with public AND 'Bengaluru' is being pushed by govt institutions, we need to see which name is still in trend with locals. 'Bangalore' name should have been at zero if all the locals were using the new name. If the time range is increased to the time when Bengaluru was not yet a familiar term then it is quite obvious that this new name would trend upwards to the current time.
  - keerthiko 7y ago
    I know it was deliberate, and deliberately hiding the story. Certainly several locals will prefer the name they grew up with. Some find it rolls off the tongue better when speaking English, or just because they used Bangalore for many years already. No such change will ever have 100% coverage in such a short time, yet I think it's worth consciously respecting. Locals will use both interchangeably because it's often used informally, but I think for anything official, it's important to use the correct and official name, which is Bengaluru. Such as here, this is not an informal post by YC but an official announcement.

bprasanna 7y ago

This is not the right place to show your love for the name. We should be happy about YC considering Bangalore/Bengaluru as a place to conduct interviews. Your point deviates the intention of the post.

srean 7y ago

Its been 70 years since the British left, I wonder why the sudden resurgence to go back to pre-British names. Bengaluru was the name for the place prior to the British, but I would argue its the British that made 'Bangalore: the garden city' out of it, that touch still remains although diminishing everyday.

simula67 7y ago

I think this is particularly uncharitable. YC is probably planning to invest in companies in India, we should be more charitable and not be unnecessarily antagonistic. Also, I think this is unrealistic. Do you expect others to properly use the names of all cities ? For example : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhikode https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhikode. The 'zh' sound is not present outside of a few South Indian languages. It is OK if others call it Calicut IMO EDIT: It seems the OP has edited the comment to make it more polite. Thanks OP.

Uhhrrr 7y ago

It would help your case if you were to write, "It has been 14 years since the name changed officially, and I would appreciate it if people stopped using the anglicized name of our city."

seeker_ 7y ago

Seriously, you want to do this here? This is a hackernews thread not an equivalent on twitter or FB.

GordonS 7y ago

I know a lot of Indians in Mumbai - most of them still call it Bombay!

absolute_hacker 7y ago

A day in the life of an Indian tech guy - excitingly clicks a HackerNews link relevant to India - "YC Interviews in India"! Finds a flame war on Bangalore vs Bangaluru - wait what? True Story!!