'Kamalam’: Best way to take on the Chinese

Whoever accuses the Modi government of not acting decisively against China for intruding well into Indian territory at Ladakh and now building a full-fledged village within the boundaries of Arunachal Pradesh, could not have been more wrong. While we threaten to annihilate Pakistan for its transgressions at the drop of a hat, we have brought China to its knees just by banning its apps. Now, in an ultimate strike against our over-ambitious neighbour, Gujarat has decided to rename dragon fruit as kamalam. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has announced that the name dragon fruit is associated with China which necessitated the rechristening. But why kamalam? The outer portion of the fruit resembles a kamalam or lotus, reasons the chief minister. It is a mere coincidence that the BJP’s symbol is lotus while the party’s office in Gujarat is named Shree Kamalam. Given our propensity to prohibit anything that does not suit our palette, be it books or films, one wonders why Rupani did not impose a blanket ban on the Chinese fruit. Well, the chief minister was only trying to strike a balance because a large number of farmers in the arid Kutch region have taken to cultivation of dragon fruit and are dependent on it for their livelihood.

Social media has gone berserk with laughter over the name change. While one user demanded that the name of the Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon be changed to Enter the Kamalam, another suggested that the Great Wall of China should be renamed as Rahul Dravid, known as the Wall. Some others hoped that Rupani would stop here and refrain from renaming other fruits and vegetables based on their outer shape as it could lead to an embarrassing situation. Actually, this could be a masterstroke by the Gujarat government. Years ago, the Chinese gooseberry was rebranded by New Zealand as Kiwi, after its national bird, and today nobody remembers the original name. Lotus happens to be the national flower of India and before long, dragon fruit may be known as kamalam across the world.

While any strong action against China would be welcomed by the people, gimmicks like renaming Chinese fruits or dishes will only expose us to contempt and ridicule globally. If such stunts were the answer, we could merely give the Chinese village in Arunachal Pradesh an Indian name and solve the problem. We are, after all, experts at renaming towns and cities. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Shakespeare would say. And Vijay Rupani will gladly agree.