The purpose of naming an area, road or a circle in a city, town or village is to help people locate a building, house or a business establishment. However, some pressure groups influence the authorities concerned to name them after some particular person.
Nobody would contest naming new places or not so popular ones after anybody.
But powerful pressure groups target major landmarks, the authorities concerned also — particularly politicians — succumb to such pressures to appease a certain section of the society. In some cases, the vested interests are the authorities concerned themselves.
Popularity doesn’t matter
Major landmarks in Mysore city like Doddagadiyara, Chattrimara, Chamaraja Circle, K R Circle, Hardinge Circle, Gandhi Square, Agrahara Circle, Ramaswamy Circle, Tippu Circle, etc are popular by their own names.
In fact, there are no boards erected by the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) with the names etched on them in most of these places. But People know them well. Even those who are not residents of Mysore know them.
However, names like Ashoka Circle, Dr Rajkumar Circle, Nawab Hyder Ali Khan Bahadur Circle, Hariprasad Circle, Vasavi Circle, M N Jois Circle, Nehru Circle, B Rachaiah Circle, Basaveshwara Circle, Kanaka Circle, Ambedkar Circle, Moulana Abul Kalam Circle, Visveswaraya Circle, etc., does not ring a bell in one’s mind.
But if the earlier term for them like Ballal Circle, Fountain Circle, Pilot Circle, SP Circle, Chikkagadiyara, MUDA Circle, Laskhar Police Station, Patshala-Corporation circle, Patshala-Double Road signal, Nanjumalige Circle, FTS Circle, Highway Circle, K R Hospital Circle, respectively, is used, it sure rings a bell in the minds of not only Mysoreans but those people who would have visited Mysore only a few times.
Auto drivers, who deal with the people who come to the city or even residents of Mysore in locating addresses, say naming already famous circles does not help anybody in any way. People continue to use old names and it will never be forgotten.
Confusing circles
Venkatesh, a native of Hassan, who is driving auto in the city for the past 28 years said new names only confuse them.
When somebody new to the city come with a business card, which has the new name of a circle, he/she has to call the person to be contacted over phone and get the old name to locate the place.
Puttaswamy, a Mysorean, driving auto for the past 20 years, said new names of locations are of no use as only old ones are familiar to all.
Although a Mysorean and has been driving auto for as long as 30 years, Janardhan is not familiar with the new names of circles. He could not identify any of the new names. He said only old names help him navigate through the city.
Govindaraj, also a Mysorean, who has been driving auto for the past 15 years said circles are named after somebody to appease some people.
He said there should be a limit to naming and re-naming circles.
Why meddle with the history and heritage of the city. However, it does not matter as long as people remember old names, he added.
