Americans - Their Cars and Their Cities

Americans are fond of naming their cars after cities. Some of the well-known ones are the Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Tahoe, Pontiac Montana, Hyundai Tucsan, Hyundai Santa Fe, Dodge Dakota, Dodge Daytona, Ford Gran Torino, Mercury Milan, Mercury Montego and so on. Not surprisingly they ran out of city names. So they borrowed city names from Europe. Actually they had done it well in advance anticipating the automobile revolution that was to come.

So, now they have a Leeds and a Birmingham in Alabama, Kensington and Manchester in California, Derby and Avon in Connecticut. There are thousands of such examples. I am told the European settlers and explorers, who came from various parts of Europe, to settle down in the land of opportunities brought the names of their cities along and named their settlements nostalgically. In fact there are at least ten Birminghams and twenty five Manchesters. Quite clearly, the postal department had a great lot of difficulty delivering letters when such confusion abounded. So, they started prefixing “New” before naming cities. Now we had New Jersey, New Castle, New Britain and New England, New Kent and of course New York , the Big Apple.

The Americans did not leave even Indian Cities alone. So, they had a Delhi each in New York and Louisiana. But before they could create a “New” version of that, we named our capital “New Delhi”. And, lo and behold, soon enough the Americans had a New Delhi in Illinois. But we had beaten them for sure this time. They cannot have a “NEW NEW DELHI”! I wonder why they did not name their cities Jalandhar or Ulhasnagar. Maybe the Canadians had laid an early claim to these names. But, what about A New Telugu Desam? Oops, we have brand new names now – New Telangana and New Seemandhra. I am told software companies in the Bay Area, SFO are infested with Indians from Andhra. In fact, they say that as soon as you enter their buildings you are accosted by the aroma of fresh sāmbhar wafting from their canteens, company canteens that serve the best South Indian cuisine in the world. Move aside Sarvana Bhavans and Udipi Eateries!

And now, the biggest blasphemy and most sacrilegious show of unforgivable irreverence of all. They now have a Salem of their own. A Salem in the state of Massachusetts! In fact they have nearly thirty Salems located in states from Alabama to Indiana and Iowa to Wisconsin. Well, I do not blame them for following the footsteps of a great man.

Now, coming back to the naming of cars after cities for that is how this tread started. Any self-respecting Indian would rather buy a car named after Indian cities than a Hyundai Tucson or a Ford Gran Torino, both now available in India. So how about

Ambassador Allahabad

Nano Naini

Maruti Mokama

Suzuki Singur

Hyundai Hogenakkal

Renault Ranchi

or .. .. .. a

Tata Tata