Back to Bombay?

The emotional outburst against terrorists and politicians is being circulated as text messages and e-mails. One interesting outcome of this is that some citizens want their city to be renamed back as ‘Bombay’ as they feel that it was much better and luckier than the present Mumbai. Celebrated numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani also prefers the name ‘Bombay’. ‘‘Numerically speaking, the original name of the city adds up to the number 17, which symbolises peace and prosperity. On the other hand, Mumbai adds up to the number 18, which has negative shades and symbolises materialism striving to destroy spirituality,’’ Jumaani said. He said 17 (Bombay) was a highly spiritual number and was expressed in symbolism by the eight-pointed star of Venus: a symbol of ‘‘Peace and Love’’. Jumaani added that Mumbai’s 18 was a warning of treachery, deception by others, as well as danger from the elements like storms, water and explosions. But not everyone agrees with Jumaani’s number play. Astrophysics researcher from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) P C Agrawal stated: ‘‘There is no scientific logic behind certain names and numbers being lucky or unlucky. But I personally do not like names being arbitrarily changed, like Madras to Chennai, Calcutta to Kolkata and Bangalore to Bengaluroo.’ But ardent followers of astrology and numerology argue back that not everything can be totally explained through pure science, like the concept of God or the creation of universe. Infotech professional from SEEPZ in Andheri (East) Umesh Chhajed remarked: ‘‘Anything and everything that can prevent the recurrence of terror should be done, including changing the name back to Bombay if it is good for the city.’’ Chhajed, who is from Anlage Infotech (India) Pvt Ltd, has already given an online petition to the PM Singh to ‘‘cripple terrorism at its source; including the terror camps within India and neighbouring countries, and to make our police better equipped to combat terrorists’’.