Looking East to Acting East : Do names make a difference ?
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: November 22, 2014 -

The power of a name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry, and religious ceremonies. ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ is a frequently referred part of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her rival's house of Montague, that is, that he is named "Montague.

Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet meet and fall in love in Shakespeare's lyrical tale of "star-cross'd" lovers. They are doomed from the beginning as members of two warring families.

Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family.

Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows. This concept of a name encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of Shakespeare's play.

Even though Shakespeare sidelines the significance of a ‘name’ in trying to glorify the power of ‘love’, this modern world has acknowledged that ‘nomenclatures’ can make differences.

A pragmatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been attaching importance to nomenclatures, slogans and oratory in order to make programmes more participatory and effective.

Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India, a number of policies have been renamed and new slogans developed. He has overhauled the manner of observing or celebrating historic events to boost its significance and to draw more participation of the populace.

On Teachers’ Day last, Modi sought participation of each and every student as well as teachers of the country to commemorate Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan’s birth anniversary.

On Gandhi Jayanti, Modi tried to instill consciousness about cleanliness among leaders as well as the general population.

Celebrations beginning the birth of Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14 to the birth of Indira Gandhi on November 19, Narendra Modi chalked out plans to sensitise children on sanitation and cleanliness.

Erstwhile ‘Bharat Nirman campaign’ has been changed to ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, ‘Children Day’ has been acclaimed as ‘Bal Swachhata Mission’. The Prime Minister has been trying to turn a pragmatic twist to all existing policies and programmes undertaken by previous regimes.

Sonia Gandhi, during her election campaign in Maharashtra in October last, commented, ‘All Modi has done is rename our schemes’.

The Congress President lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repackaging all the schemes and plans of the Congress-led UPA government.

She also said, "These people, when in opposition, used to ridicule our welfare schemes for the poor and our development plans. But in the last 100 days, all they have done is just renaming the same schemes and plans and re-launching them to claim credit."

Gandhi ridiculed BJP saying, ‘Modi government gives a slogan every day, but they should know that the government cannot be run by sloganeering and tall promises that are never kept.’

Leaving aside party differences, Narendra Modi has brought in pragmatism and continuity in all existing programmes.

He knows for sure that a ‘nomenclature’ can make a difference. That is the reason why he has now changed the ‘Look East Policy’ to the ‘Act East Policy’.