Be aware: Most Indians Still Call Mumbai "Bombay"

[liberalpragmatist]

The name of the city was changed in 1996 at the initiative of a local, far-right political party, the Shiv Sena. (To give you an idea of how right-wing the party is, their leader Bal Thackeray, has, approvingly, called himself "the Hitler of India.")

Mumbai was the name of the old fishing village that occupied the spot that Bombay is on nowadays.

The city, however, took its name from the Portuguese. They called the port "Bom Bahia" for "Good Bay." When the British took over, they anglicized the name to "Bombay."

In the local languages, Marathi and Gujurati, the city was called "Mumbai," but all other Indians called it Bombay. Moreover, that name was universally-understood by Marathi and Gujurati-speakers as well.

The terms of the name change were that the city would, henceforth, be officially known as "Mumbai" in ALL languages.

The name change is still very controversial. Most Indians still call it Bombay, even though the name Mumbai has acquired some grudging acceptance.

[valerief]

1. Hey, I still haven't gotten used to the Peking/Bejing change. nt

[JI7]

2. if you watch the news reports you will notice indians tend to call it bombay more

than the non indians.

[Richard D]

3. Sorry. but . . .

. . . Mumbai Gin just doesn't sound right.

[Bobbieo]

4. 'Bombay' seems to fit much better - has a certain lilt to it. When the story first broke I had

no idea what city was being referred to- where is this 'Mumbai'?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. You, too?????

Oh, thank you for posting that. I thought I'd suffered some sort of brain damage that left me geographically impaired. I had no idea what this place was.

Bombay.

I don't ever recall hearing it called anything but Bombay.

Thank you again. I feel sane.

[Gman]

15. Same here...

I was wondering what was this major city in India that I didn't recognize the name. 22 years later and I get the news. I'm always the last to know...

[NoPasaran]

24. Be glad you don't live in the former Soviet Union

Over the last century the big city in the area where my family came from has been Lemburg, Lwow, Lvov, or L'viv depending on whether the Austrians/Germans, Poles, Russians, or Ukrainians were running the place.

[DeschutesRiver]

25. Another thanks - I hadn't recognized Mumbai was the old Bombay either. nt

[Indiana_Dem]

6. Thank you for the history lesson. Now I realize what city they are talking about!

I like the word Bombay better because I've grown up with the city referred to as such, especially in old movies. The old name induces a nice, intriguing feeling to me.

[blondeatlast]

7. My New Delhi born and Bombay raised husband calls it Bombay.

We even had to find a globe that had it as "Bombay" when we purchased it.

[Owl]

8. I was unaware of that. Thank you!

[JCMach1]

9. Most of the Indians I know call it Mumbai these days

that includes two people from Mumbai who work directly in my office.

[blondeatlast]

12. Are they expats or were they born in the UAE?

I travel in a heavily Indian crowd (Mr. is Punjabi, born and raised in India) and I've NEVER heard one refer to Mumbai.

Not a single one.

[clyrc]

27. I think it's because you hear about Mumbai every day in the media

in the UAE, so people have gotten used to calling it that. I was actually surprised to hear the city called Bombay when I was watching some sort of interview with an Indian living in Britain.

[JCMach1]

28. expats

[LoveIsNow]

10. All of the Indians I know

make those little finger quotes and get sarcastic when they say "Mumbai", and then say "Bombay" and go on a tirade about the stupidity of changing the city's name.

[blondeatlast]

13. That's been my experience too. My husband is Punjab and he and all his friends HATE

the word Mumbai.

[TahitiNut]

11. What do they call it in East Pakistan?

:dunce:

[NV Whino]

16. Bomb, bomb, bomb Mumbai.

[ashling]

21. I thought I was the only one who remembered East Pakistan

:hi:

[TahitiNut]

22. Ceylon, Siam, Burma, Belgian Congo, British Honduras, ... yup.

:dunce:

[Ignorimus]

14. Thanks for the interesting fact

I wasn't aware of that. I thought Bombay was another separate town.

[Lex]

18. Damn, that was a fast delivery of pizza!

:rofl:

[Critters2]

20. Wow! What brought that on?! nt

[hlthe2b]

17. Well, to my dying day, the DC airport will always be NATIONAL

Reagan can have his name on his gravestone and library... Not on my tax dollar-supported airport. That's my decades-old attitude and I'm sticking with it....LOL

So, the Indians can tell ME what they want me to call it... I'm listening...

[etherealtruth]

23. Its "National" to me, as well.

I'll be damned before I call it Reagan ... :vomit:

My Gujrati former spouse has always refereed to the city as Bombay, echoing those posting earlier in the thread.

[Critters2]

19. An article in the Chicago Trib noted that expats in Chicago still refer

to themselves as "Bombayites". So, I'm guessing they still call the city "Bombay".

[tammywammy]

26. I have tons of Punjabi friends, and they all call it Bombay.