Gurgaon no more, Gurugram instead

You learn something new every day.

For those who aren't too familiar with Gurgaon, it is pretty much where most Delhi folks work! OK, that's pushing it too far. But it is considered a suburb of Delhi (even though it is located in an entirely different state), and is part of the National Capital Region.

Gurgaon is home to several offices and commercial enterprises have moved there over the years. Also, if you've encountered an Indian call centre agent, there's a high possibility they were talking to you from Gurgaon. And in the last many years, 90% of the time, I've taken a flight to Delhi, only to head to Gurgaon for work, and not Delhi as such.

Pic courtesy: Zee News

Zee News carries this piece today, that the district of Gurgaon will now be called Gurugram. At least that's the proposal. 

Gurgaon apparently comes from guru-gaon ("Guru", meaning teacher; and "gaon" meaning village). Over time, Guru-gaon was shortened to Gurgaon in terms of usage. So Gurgaon was essentially, the "teacher's village". 

The Guru in question here is apparently a reference to Guru Dronacharya from the epic Mahabharata, whose name has been used to name the national award for excellence in sport coaching - the Dronacharya Award. The village was, according to the epic, given by the Pandava princes to their teacher, towards his fee for tutoring them.

As for "Gram" (the "a" is pronounced like the "a" in "bath", so really, "graam"), as it happens, that also means village. So the change in name isn't really much - both in appearance and in substance.

Gurgaon, as I suspect it will continue to be called - at least for some time, is home to tall buildings, perpetual construction activity, dust and pollution.

Pic courtesy: The Hindustan Times
Over the last 25 years or so, several cities in India have been renamed (or re-renamed, considering the first round of renaming was done by the British when India was their colony).

My learning for today was the history behind the old name "Gurgaon", and the new name "Gurugram". And I used to think that the "Gur" in Gurgaon referred to jaggery. 

Now, I know better!

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