What is in a name? A lot! It tells you about your heritage and your past. Unfortunately, in my case, it is a burden which I have been carrying for years and many people of my town will agree with me. I belong to a town which is well known in India. I am from a town called Faridabad, about 16 miles (25 KM) from the Capital of India, New Delhi. It comes under Haryana state and is the industrial hub of Haryana with a polpulation of 1.5 million. It is home to people from all over the nation. The tragedy is that its name is neither symbolic of its cultural heritage ,nor of its aspirations. As the history shows, the name was given to us by one of the administrator of the Mohguls who invaded our country and ruled over it.

The official web-site of Faridabad administration (here is the link) tells us about the origin of the name:
“Faridabad was founded in A.D. 1607 by Shaikh Farid, treasurer of Jahangir, with the object of protecting the highway which passed through the town. Shaikh Farid built a fort, a tank and a mosque which are in runins. Later, it becomes the headquaters of a pargana which was held in jagir by the Ballabgarh ruler. Faridabad became 12th District of Haryana State on 15th August, 1979. Faridabad is about 25 Kilometers from Delhi…”

They have since gone, but the name persists! Majority of people from Faridabad may actually not be even aware of the origin of this name! But the name carries on!

I urge upon the people of Faridabad, its elected representatives to consider changing this name to a more of Indian name so that the ghost of Moghul rule does not persist with us! I want to get rid of a name which reflects of a ruler or history which was a dark period for us. Why not give a name which symbolizes our own culture, for example: Mahtama Fule nagar, Shivaji Nagar (who fought Moghuls), Vivekanand Nagar, or just any other name!

In the next assembly elections, there should be a referendum and thus voters of faridabad can decide about this issue. This is a pretty democratic way of dealing with this issue.