"Bharat"

[Mik]

Meh. Peking, Bejing. No big deal.

[George K]

Burma....

[xenon]

This one’s interesting. The city name changes (Bombay -> Mumbai, Calcutta -> Kolcutta) seemed academic to me. My family still refers to them with the old names.

This one is a substantive difference. “Bharat” is still a very commonly used term and it does have a different connotation from
India.

India has always felt like an artificial name for a country that never really existed before the British.

[Mik]

Many Indians I have known would tell you in private conversation how much they detested the British, and with good reason.

[Doctor Phibes]

@Mik said in "Bharat":

Many Indians I have known would tell you in private conversation how much they detested the British,

Many Americans I have known have said much the same thing to me.

[Mik]

Really? I just think of you as our pompous cousins.

[xenon]

Similar to the TDS thread though - now that Modi has suggested this, it’ll be a toxic topic for the other side.

Even the way the AP wrote the article betrays an anti-Modi bias. (And I say this as no fan of Modi)

[Mik]

Yeah, why should India Bharat be immune to the political nonsense we see here.

"No matter what you do, we OPPOSE it!". Stupid.

[89th]

Wow how ignorant I am of some basic history. I didn't realize India and Pakistan used to be the same "country" (or that Bangladesh was East Pakistan before it broke off).

Also, I'm surprised the name America hasn't been cancelled yet. He (Vespucci) was one of those evil explorers who helped with the slave trade, you know.

[Copper]

Country, McCountryface would make more sense.

[Axtremus]

It’s Constitutional.

India constitution (English version): https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s380537a945c7aaa788ccfcdf1b99b5d8f/uploads/2023/05/2023050195.pdf

PART 1, Article 1, (1)
India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

[George K]

@Axtremus said in "Bharat":

It’s Constitutional.

India constitution (English version): https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s380537a945c7aaa788ccfcdf1b99b5d8f/uploads/2023/05/2023050195.pdf

PART 1, Article 1, (1)
India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

I've always found it interesting how "The United States" came to be referred to as "America."

[89th]

Ha, that reminds me of a big debate I had with friends in college about how places like Peru can be called America too.

[taiwan_girl]

And the official mane of Mexico is "United Mexican States"

[LuFins Dad]

So if India goes back to being Bharat and we start calling people with that heritage Bharatians, can we go back to calling Native Americans “Indians”?

[jon-nyc]

@89th said in "Bharat":

Ha, that reminds me of a big debate I had with friends in college about how places like Peru can be called America too.

In South America they refer to us (USA) Americans as “Norteamericanos” (at least when they’re being polite).

México is also North America, so they don’t say that. There I t’s Estadounidense”.

[Wim]

@89th Vespucci's name wasn't Amerigo:
https://www.jonathancohenweb.com/america.html