When I feel down and depressed, I turn to some book of poetry or philosophy to find solace and strength. And right now, I am feeling depressed, also sad and angry. Reason: the news that Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) has forced Karan Johar, a well-known Bollywood filmmaker, to apologise for having referred to Mumbai as ‘Bombay’ in his new film Wake Up Sid. MNS claims that the maker of many Bollywood hits “hurt the sentiments of Maharashtrians” by doing so.

I am no admirer of Johar. But as a proud Maharashtrian, and one who has profound love and admiration for Marathi, I asked myself: Did Johar commit a crime by calling this city ‘Bombay’? Does one show disrespect to Mumbai, to Marathi or to Maharashtrians by referring to this city as ‘Bombay’, a name that many Mumbaikars, including me, are still fond of? In any case, who has authorised MNS to threaten people and secure apology from them on the pain of inviting violent action?

I pick up a slim book from my shelf—Rabindranath Tagore’s Faith of A Poet. The publisher’s name is given as “Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay-400 007”. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, like Bollywood, is one of the many great institutions this city gave birth to when it was ‘Bombay’. (I wonder how many great institutions the proponents of Mumbai have built after changing the city’s name.) Its founder was Dr. K.M. Munshi, an eminent freedom fighter and littérateur in Gujarati who had made Bombay his home. Munshi himself was a devoted follower of another great Gujarati, who lived more years of his action-filled life in Bombay than in any other city in India—Mahatma Gandhi.

... contd.