From BOMBAY to MUMBAI

Legend has it that long, long ago when Bombay was a tiny archipelago of seven islands, it was frequently plundered by a demon called Mumbaraka. Terrorized by this monster , the local Koli fisherfolk appealed to Lord Brahma, Creator of the Universe. Brahma was moved by their plight, and produced an eight armed goddess to vanquish the tyrant. Mumbaraka, of course, was no match for her, and fled. Delighted, the kolis called the goddess Mumbadevi and named the island Mumbai, after their divine protectress.

So Mumbai it was until the 1600s when Spanish invaders appropriated the natural harbour and rechristened it Bom Bahia which literally means Good Bay. Then in 1661, Catherine de Braganza of Portugal married Charles I of England; the island was actually part of the Portuguese Princess’ dowry to her husband. Charles, however, was evidently unimpressed with his gift and leased it out to the British East India Company which anglicized Bom Bahia to Bombay.

But history must bow to politics. In 1997, exactly fifty years after the British left India, the local government launched a patriotic campaign to delete colonial rule from public memory --- and formally reverted to the city’s original name, Mumbai. Yet to many , many citizens, it is still Bombay, the island that their forefathers helped build.