Shashi Tharoor's Linguistic Quip on Kerala's Proposed Renaming to Keralam
Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, responded with characteristic wordplay on Tuesday after reports emerged that the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal to change the name of the southern state from Kerala to 'Keralam'. In a post on social media platform X, Tharoor posed a lighthearted yet pointed question about how English speakers would now refer to the people of the state.
Tharoor's Humorous Take on the Naming Conundrum
"All to the good, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for the Anglophones among us: what happens now to the terms 'Keralite' and 'Keralan' for the denizens of the new 'Keralam'?" Tharoor wrote. He added with his trademark wit, "'Keralamite' sounds like a microbe and 'Keralamian' like a rare earth mineral...! @CMOKerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal."
His comments came as sources cited by the Press Trust of India indicated that the Union Cabinet, during its meeting held at the newly inaugurated Seva Teerth complex—the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Secretariat—had given its nod to the Kerala government's proposal for the name change.
Background of the Renaming Initiative
The move follows a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on June 24, 2024, urging the Central Government to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to reflect the name 'Keralam'. This was not the first such effort; the Assembly had previously passed a similar resolution in August 2023. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs suggested technical modifications, prompting the state to readopt the resolution with the necessary changes.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who moved the resolution, emphasized that the state is referred to as 'Keralam' in Malayalam and that the demand for a unified Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people has deep roots in the national freedom struggle. "The name of our state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This assembly requests the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it as 'Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution and have it renamed as 'Keralam' in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," Vijayan stated.
Constitutional and Political Implications
The resolution specifically sought changes in the First Schedule under Article 3, which deals with the formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, or names of existing states. Upon review, it was confirmed that the amendment would indeed be required in the First Schedule to effect the name change.
This development comes at a politically significant time, with assembly elections in Kerala expected to be held in April-May 2025. The renaming proposal, while rooted in linguistic and historical considerations, also carries symbolic weight in the state's political landscape.
Tharoor's playful intervention highlights the practical linguistic challenges that such a change might entail for English speakers, even as the move aims to align the official name with its Malayalam counterpart. His suggestion of a competition for new demonyms underscores the broader cultural and social adjustments that could accompany the formal renaming process.
