The same applies to Naktala and Gitanjali, Bansdroni and Masterda Surya Sen, Kudghat and Netaji. There seems to be no connection between the stations and the men — and one book — except in Mamata’s mind. Only Tollygunge, the Bengali film hub, can be linked to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. But very few yet have the temerity to demand at a Metro counter: “Duto Mahanayak Uttam Kumar!” Even in the maddest rush it’s possible to imagine the absurdity of Bengal’s biggest screen actor as a concrete structure. Besides, as many Calcuttans fervently believe, there can be only one Uttam Kumar.
And now Maidan is set to become Gostha Pal, Park Street Station, Mother Teresa and Chandni Chowk, Tipu Sultan, though Tipu Sultan is from outside Bengal.
Some Calcuttans are protesting. They feel that if there is an attempt to change the name of something as vital to everyday life as a Metro station, it should be left to the people. They have started an online campaign to protest against the new names at http://mystationmychoice.blogspot.com/ where a citizen can sign his or her name.
“Why should someone else decide if Maidan Station should become Gostha Pal? Or, if Park Street Station should now be called Mother Teresa? Or, if Chandni Chowk Station should be Tipu Sultan?” asks the campaign. Every day lakhs of Calcuttans spend money to use the Metro and then suddenly somebody else decides what the Metro stations will be called. “If anybody should decide, it should be us,” the campaign declares.
“Worldwide underground station names are based on the convenience of commuters. To expect the commuter to know that Masterda Surya Sen is Bansdroni is callousness,” says Pradeep Kakkar, involved in the campaign.
The railway minister should have witnessed the plight of a family from south India which wanted to go to a locality near Garia Bazar. They didn’t know exactly which station to get down at. Others didn’t either. Imagine the visitors’ confusion when they were offered the wide range of choices from Gitanjali to Kavi Nazrul, through Masterda Surya Sen and Netaji. They were clueless, about the localities as well as the pronunciation.
“When the new stadium is built at Behala, will we buy one Uttam Kumar and go to Satyajit Ray (the name of the new stadium)?” asks a commuter in his 20s.
“The Calcutta Municipal Corporation can’t change the name of a street without a certain process, which involves people’s views. There should be a similar process for changing a Metro station’s name too,” says Kakkar. .
Not that great men have fared too well as destination points in Bengal: a hero can easily become an abbreviation. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Calcutta has become NSCBI Airport.
But then powers-that-be changing names without taking into consideration what people want is a tradition in Calcutta. When the city became “Kolkata” under the CPM government, it became so despite the reservations of many.
If the Metro stations’ new names are felt to be an imposition of selective history, Calcutta’s new name was felt to be an erasure — even an evasion — of history.
Metro on Sunday has two suggestions: One, let there be a poll in the city on whether it wants the new, grand names lacking in logic or the old, simple ones. Two, if the city wants fancy names, Mamata has many more Great Bongs (with titles too, Mamata seems to have a fondness for names with titles) to be named as stations: Maharshi Debendranath, Sahityasamrat Bankimchandra, Amar Kathashilpi Saratchandra, Dayar Sagar Vidyasagar, Rishi Aurobindo, Biplabi Kabi Sukanto, Biplabini Matangini…
Are we missing out on someone?
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