Re: R.K.Narayan born (10/10/1906)

On 2024-10-10 09:44:06 +0000, Ross Clark said:

Indian writer (died 2001). Hm! I have a couple of his books on the shelf here; should put them on the "to-read" pile.
 Graham Greene was an early fan: "[Narayan] has offered me a second home. Without him I could never have known what it is like to be Indian."
 In an essay called "Street Names" (1956), Narayan writes about "the passion for changing names of streets, towns, parks and squares" in India after independence.
 "Smith Lane...is always in danger of being attacked by righteous-minded persons. Someone will suddenly discover that Smith was an odious colonial administrator and transform the lane, with every pomp, to Jagadguru Lane."
 A Jagadguru...doesn't need such an honour; nor is the change "likely to make the ghost of the old despot go pale with shame or remorse. On the contrary, the despot's name should be left untouched just to show how his despotism has proved futile in the long run."
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._K._Narayan

That seems to have been the policy of Singapore's governments over the years. Virtually every name that I remember from my childhood (1947-1950) whether in Rnglish (Thompson Road, the Raffles Hotel, Woodlands Road ...) or Malay (Bukit Timah road ...) remains in use today, and all the traffic signs are in the language of the oppressor. Rimau (where I lived) is now View Road, but that derives from a lengthening of the road to subsume Rimau. When I was in Singapore in 2015 or thereabouts I mentioned in my talk that I couldn't find Rimau on the map; afterwards a helpful student consulted his grandfather, who knew about such things and had a collection of old maps, who told him that Rimau was now View Road. I was thus able to find where I had lived, and found it to be one of the very few places in Singapore (along with the Raffles Hotel and the zoo) that looked the same as in 1950.
--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly in England until 1987.