Gurugram or Gurgaon?

On Tuesday evening, the Haryana government abruptly decided to change the name of the district of Gurgaon to Gurugram. According to the state government website, the city was earlier known as Guru Gram, but over time the name became distorted. In Hindu mythology, it is believed that this area was a village that was gifted to Guru Dronacharya by the Pandavas, which apparently explains the “guru” in Gurugram. While the State’s press release mentions that there is a Metro connecting Gurgaon, sorry Gurugram, to Delhi, it’s worth noting there is also a metro station in Gurgaon by the name of Guru Dronacharya. Evidently, that was not enough showing enough love to Drona and the Mahabharata.

Social media reacted to the name change with two dramatically different reactions. Some said that Gurugram was a “reassertion of etymology” while others decided humour was the best way to respond to this.

Three undergraduate college students headed towards Delhi were not even aware that the name had actually changed. They were only convinced after being shown today’s front page of The Hindu. Embarrassed, they said, “Newspaper mein aaya hai, fir toh hua hi hoga.” (“If it’s in the newspaper it must have happened.”) The silver lining here is that their faith in newspapers (or at the very least The Hindu) is intact.

A middle- aged man in the train who has lived in Gurgaon the city for more than a decade now, said, “Waise pasand toh nahin hai, lekin naam se farak kya padhta hai?” (“I don’t like it, but what difference does a change in name make?”)

Two elderly women in the compartment were talking about the name change. One of them said, “Waise dekha jaaye toh iss mein kucch galat toh nahin hai. Pahle toh yahi naam tha. Guru Dronacharya ne yahin pe toh shiksha di thi Kauravon aur Pandavon ko.” (“Well, if you think about it, there is nothing wrong in this. Earlier, this (Gurugram) only was the name. This is the place where Guru Dronacharya taught both Kauravas and Pandavas.”)

A young man said, “It came as major shock to me. I wasn’t expecting this at all. I like the previous name much better. What is the point of changing it?”

The same sentiment was echoed by a woman who has lived in Gurgaon for over two decades. “I like the name Gurgaon much more,” she said. “I am much more used to it. I don’t think the people will stop calling it Gurgaon.”

The general consensus on the Metro seemed to be that the public was going to ignore the name change. As one gentleman put it: “Let them change it. I will still call it Gurgaon.” Or if you want to be Shakespearean about it, a gaon by any other name would still have Millenium City and Jats.