The names we keep: India's unchanged urban memory

It's a rainy December evening, and an autorickshaw driver in Chennai looks puzzled as a visitor from Delhi, unfamiliar with the city, asks to be taken to Anna Salai.

- Manoj Sharma

NEW DELHI:

"Where?" the driver asks, perplexed by the name. The passenger repeats, "Anna Salai."

There's a moment of confusion, before the passenger adds, "Higginbotham's Bookshop."

Instantly, the auto driver's face lights up. "Ah, you mean Mount Road!" he says, and gestures for the passenger to hop in and drives off, reaffirming what every Chennai resident knows—that the old names of streets remain an essential part of the city's identity, even if their official names have changed.

This phenomenon isn't unique to Chennai alone: across India, major streets in megacities have been renamed to reflect shifting political and cultural priorities. Park Street in Kolkata, for instance, was rechristened "Mother Teresa Sarani"; Marine Drive, synonymous with Mumbai, became "Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg"; and New Delhi's colonial-era shopping arcade, Connaught Place, was renamed "Rajiv Chowk."

Decades later, these new names have failed to catch on in everyday conversations. Mount Road is still Mount Road, Park Street refuses to yield to "Mother Teresa Sarani", and Connaught Place continues to be "CP."

Why do old names persist?

Urban experts and cultural historians argue that old street names persist because they are more than just markers on a map—they represent a city's identity, history, culture, and collective memory, shaping how people experience and navigate their cities.

"Names like Park Street, Mount Road or Marine Drive evoke not just physical spaces but also shared memories—of social gatherings, historical events, or iconic moments in cinema and literature," said urban designer Dikshu Kukreja.

"In such cases, official renaming often feels disconnected from the lived experiences of the residents. The persistence of old names reflects people's emotional and cultural connection with their cities, highlighting a bottom-up relationship rather than top-down administrative control," Kukreja said.