Bangalore renamed Bengalooru

India's premier IT–hub, the southern city of Bangalore has been renamed as Bengalooru, a change – championed by state chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy – which is largely seen as an effort to assert local identity in an era of globalisation, a time when the country is being flooded by Western influences.

The rechristening of the city's name beginning November 1, is not, however, new to India. Not very long ago, Calcutta was renamed as Kolkata, Bombay as Mumbai and Madras as Chennai.

But none of those changes caused as much of a stir as the prospect of Bangalore, a teeming city of seven million, turning into Bengalooru.

"Bangalore represents a cosmopolitan, multicultural brand," said Nandan Nilekani, chief executive of Infosys Technologies.

"It is not prudent to abandon the name of India's most global city," he added.

Infosys and its domestic rival, Wipro, each with thousands of employees, are among the companies credited with building Bangalore's brand name globally. The city is now home to over a 1,000 technology firms, ranging from tiny two–person start–ups to large multinationals such as Intel, Texas Instruments and Cisco Systems.

An estimated 300,000 workers are employed by technology and back–office service companies in the city.

The move to change Bangalore's name has assumed added significance in a city attempting to strike a balance between globalisation and a glut of jobs on the one hand, and an underlying resentment among those feeling excluded from the city's rise.

However, many like Jai Shankar, an IT–professional in Bangalore, feel that the name change would mean little to the city's people.

"This cosmopolitan city is divided between affluent professionals who shop in ritzy malls full of goods produced by multinationals and those who still take home Rs. 5000 a month. There is a distinct divide between the rich and the poor here. How will a change in name affect any of their lives?" he wondered.