Happy 75th Birthday, Bharat!

[prasen9]

^^^ But Sthan morphed into a suffix for 7 or 8 Muslim countries including the Bug Nation.

Interesting, isn't it? Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Khazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan etc. all got the names of their countries from a Sanskrit word "sthan". And, we did not go out militarily trying to conquer them. But, the Iranians also claim that estan comes from Persian ... We are all the same?

[srini]

If the name India were derived from "Indus" like the Britishers claim, i am ok with that. But if it has a connotation of aboriginal people, who were crude/uncouth and needed to be reformed, then i would rather prefer to have the word India dropped. Because back in 1600s our ancestors enjoyed the best quality of life possible in those times. Art, Literature and Music were well developed and even enjoyed Royal patronage from Kings. The very fact that people pursued their interests in those days tells me that they led a largely peaceful life style that would have been enviable by people elsewhere in the world in those times. Middle ages in Europe and Middle east reeks of superstitions, religious persecution of rational and scientific thinking and wars fought in the name of religion like "Crusades or Jihads". So if at all European tribes should have been called Indic and not vice versa.

If i lookup the meaning in Cambridge dictionary i get this as 1st meaning for "Indian" : "is a person from India or West indies."

But the 2nd meaning "offensive old-fashioned a word used for a Native American (= a member of one of the groups of people who were living in North and South America before Europeans arrived ), which was used officially in some countries in the past, but is now considered extremely offensive."


Similar meaning in Oxford too. Webster which is an American dictionary agrees with 1st meaning but doesn't flag the meaning as offensive.

Some people may say what is in a name? I dis agree. A name gives a person ego (self respect in a good sense) and makes them strive and work hard to deserve the name given to them. If it can do that to a person, imagine what it can do to a civilization. The very fact that our country had prospered until 1600s when it was known as "Bharata Varsha" but then went into a downward spiral and remained so for at least 50 years of under performance after British left when it is called "India" tells me that something must be wrong with the name "India" that made us under perform as a civilization. Also I like the fact that "Bharata" has no religious meaning as he was not a God, but a king who ruled the place between Himalayas and the seas. I also don't like "Hindustan" because it connotates Hindus own this place or something. I would actually recommend politely correcting people when they refer this country with that name!

[arjun2761]

A hefty bill is in the mail.

You will need the money for bail to avoid jail for unauthorized practice of law.

[prasen9]

That too Forum Law!!!