What's in a name

 What's in a name, said Shakespeare. You call Rose by another name it still feels the same. A name of a place, person and street can be a misnomer. Example are aplenty.

In ancient India once a disciple of Lord Buddha complained to the founder of Buddhism and one of the Avatars of Sri Bishnu. The poor disciple was getting ridiculed by others due to his strange sounding name. He asked The Lord if he can change his name to something more adorable, something sounding better and more acceptable.

Buddha advised him to go on pilgrimage for a few days, following which he can consider changing his name. After a month comes back the disciple. The Lord smiled at him and asked - "what do you think about changing your name" ?

My Lord - the disciple bended with folded hands in front of Buddha and narrated his experience from his just concluded jaunt. During my pilgrimage I met a poor beggar. His name, Kubera (named after the legendary rich God from Hindu mythology known to be stinking rich with opulence). 

One day I saw a dead young man being taken to the cremation ground. I asked his mourning folks - What's his name ? The replied named "Jeevaka" (the long lived). Another day he saw a thief with his hands tied to a rope being dragged by soldiers. Upon inspection he found his name as DHARMABUDDHI (The Righteous minded). So, "Oh my Lord" - continued the disciple. I have changed my mind not to change my name.

There was a Bihar politician named Sakuni Choudhury in Laloo Prasad's ministry. He once defended his name to a Reporter - "I am proud of Sakuni, the legendary King of Gandhar" (the chief architect of Maharastra who connived with the Kauravas. He was the main brain behind the war which led to the destruction of the Kaurava clan, with the Pandavas eking out a Pyrrhic victory).

When the Reporter asked - "Wasn't Sakuni the villain of the piece who schemed the Mahabharat war" ? Mr. Choudhury replied - "Sakuni was a patriot. He loved his sister Gandhari and wanted her to marry the crown Prince Pandu. He wanted her to be the real queen of Hastinapur rather than marry the blind Dhritarastra. But Bhisma put a spanner on his desire by asking for Gandhari's hand for Dhritarastra, the blind prince. In spite of his opposition,  the princess of Ganghar readily agreed to the proposal. 

Sakuni never forgave Pitamah Bhisma and Hastinapur. Being a patriot, he avenged Gandhar's humiliation by plotting the destruction of Hastinapur, which was very close to Bhisma's heart (he took a vow to protect it). Sakuni ultimately accomplished his mission. The Minister, Sakuni Choudhury had a point in justifying his name.

There is a lot of hue and cry about renaming Delhi's Aurangzeb road to a more benevolent sounding "Ashok" Road (Incidentally like Aurangzeb, Ashok killed his brothers to ascend the throne. For both Kingship was better than Kinship). Does it change an iota of history by changing the name of the iconic road of Delhi ? Does it make the Aurangzeb road cleaner, its traffic less chaotic or the street less Covid infected ?

Does the impact of Coronavirus changes by calling it China virus, Bengal triple mutant etc ? You call Coronavirus by any name the scourge remains the same, a la same you call Rose🌹 by any name it smells the same. What Shakespeare said during the medieval days of plague pandemic is still valid in the time of Covid plaguing the world.