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Name game

No sooner the International Olympic Committee gave the green signal to China for hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese Government has been busy renovating and constructing some of the wonderful sports stadia in the country.

Some venues in the capital city Beijing are Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing National Aquatic Centre, Beijing Wukesong Culture and Sports Centre, Olympic Green Convention Centre and Olympic Green. It is to be noted that the structures have been named after the place (Beijing) or the event (Olympic). Likewise, the venues constructed at other Chinese cities of Qingdao and Shanghai will be named after the respective places or the event.

Now, lets compare the naming game in our State Asam. Though it lags behind implementing many schemes, the process of naming public structures is carried out at lightning speed. No sooner the State Government got the green signal to host the National Games (which were held with commendable success no doubt), the 'thinking pots' came up with names for the stadia. Needless to say, most of the structures and even roads leading to them were given the 'Gandhi' (of Nehru lineage) tag.

That was about sports venues. Lets come to other public institutions. Even before the idea of a hospital or college comes up in the State, the name which would appease the gullible voters in the district pops up. The best example is the upcoming medical college and hospital at Barpeta, which has been posed as 'Fakruddin Ali Ahmed medical college' instead of 'Barpeta medical college'.

At times, it seems its better not to name any Government institution after anyone. For, many a times the genuine heroes go unnoticed or uncared for. Lets know a stadium, a college, a hospital et al by its place of location. That would build a name for the place as is the case with Beijing. As for roads and lanes, they can be numbered.

I wonder when this part of the world would be free from the 'game' of naming. One will not find a Shakespeare Sarani in England, but in Kolkata.

One will not find a Mother Teresa Road in her native Skopje, but in Guwahati. The fly-over at Sanmari in Guwahati has been named after the great Sanskrit scholar Anandaram Barua. The irony is a handful of its denizens know or call it so (Anandaram Barua Setu). For most of those who whiz by the bust of the late scholar, it is the 'Sanmari fly-over'. Need we say more?

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