Dilli meri jaan: Time to revive the real name of Delhi
Just as nations have strong identities cities too have identities of their own. People have traditionally been attached to their cities and take pride in its glory. It is time we revive the real name of Delhi, ie, 'Dilli'.
THERE IS a general trend these days to rename the cities all over the world. Historical names are generally adopted for the purpose of promoting nationalistic pride. There are also cultural issues behind such moves in many nations and states. In India also many cities have been renamed from time to time. Most significantly, the three metros have already been renamed during the last few years and it is only the name of Delhi which has remained unaltered so far.Two issues are highlighted for consideration by the readers. Delhi is one of the oldest cities in the world as is the Indian culture dating from the Harappan civilisation. The kind of cultural continuity which India has seen is unparalleled in world history. If at all, some comparisons can be made to the civilisations of Mesopotamia and that of the Nile Valley.
With the establishment of the British power in India and because of the nuances of English language, ‘Dehli’ became Delhi. Gradually it became more frequently used in the official communications of the British rulers and in the gazette notification and other documents of Government of India. Unfortunately, even after independence it continued to be called Delhi and not ‘Dehli’ or ‘Dilli’. However, the saving grace was that the name ‘Dilli’ was adopted at least in Hindi. Moreover, the name ’Dilli’ continued to be used widely by all sections of the people and has remained as such even today.
While the anglicised names have been changed in many instances like Calcutta to Kolkata and Trivandrum to Tiruvanthapuram, our good old Delhi has still not acquired this distinction and it is referred in English communication as Delhi. It is time that this colonial mind-set is jettisoned and a truly Indian name is adopted for our national capital. It will be a matter of pride to restore the good old name of the city as ‘Dilli’ and it will be in tune with preservation of cultural heritage of the country.
The second aspect relates to the issue of ‘New Delhi’. The main idea here is that the British planned the new capital for their Indian empire, which was meant to be an exclusively British preserve, the seat of power from where the ordinary Indians could be governed and who would be in the awe of British power.
It was in this background that the Lutyen’s Delhi was conceived, planned and executed at a gigantic scale on and around the Raisina Hills and re-christened as ‘New Delhi’. The point is ‘New Delhi’ is a limited geographical area as created by the British and which should remain as such. Roughly speaking this area today compares with the area under New Delhi Municipal Council. Therefore, the Lutyen’s Delhi as ‘New Delhi’ should have been and should be the name only of the area presently administered by New Delhi Municipal Corporation. It is absolutely incomprehensible as to why the areas of Mehruali or Tughlakabad or Malviya Nagar should form part of or be known as ‘New Delhi’. In fact the entire area outside New Delhi (beyond the administrative limits of NDMC) should only be called Delhi or Dehli or Dilli. The NCT of Delhi comprises of nine revenue districts – there are also administrative divisons based on Police Administration (police districts) and municipal divisions (zones) but we are not concerned with them here – already known as South Delhi, South-West Delhi, North Delhi, North-West Delhi, East Delhi, North-East Delhi, Central and West Delhi. Therefore ‘New Delhi’ revenue district being administratively akin to the area under NDMC may continue to be known as such while all areas falling outside New Delhi should ordinarily be known as Dehli but from the point of view of our discussion, as ‘Dilli’. For example, Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, Jamia Nagar, Punjabi Bagh or Janakpuri etc should all be part of Delhi or Dilli and not New Delhi. This correction even at this belated stage would help in rejuvenating the cultural identity of the city which is missing today. A beginning can be made in this direction by active support of the people before approaching the political masters.
So let us start calling whole of Delhi as ‘Dilli’ and ‘New Delhi’ should only be confined to the New Delhi Revenue district or the area under NDMC.
So let us start calling whole of Delhi as ‘Dilli’ and ‘New Delhi’ should only be confined to the New Delhi Revenue district or the area under NDMC.
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