Weird village names make residents squirm

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, September 15

What’s in a name, wrote William Shakespearean, but it seems that the nomenclature matters a lot, especially for residents of the villages having weird names in Punjab.

Many residents of villages such as Lalle, Bamb, Aakad, Kubba, Makhi, Bhoot, Amir Khas, Lande, Rode, Khuni Majra, Kala Bakra, Bhangchari, Kattianwali, Jhotianwali, Sappanwali, Gidderanwali, etc. sometimes feel embarrassed when they have to tell someone the names of their villages.

For instance, a student from Billimar village in Fazilka district said, “I feel uncomfortable when I have to tell someone the name of my village, especially to the person who does not belong to the area. Some relatives even laugh at us. The village can be renamed as Raisinghpur because a number of people from the Rai Sikh community live here.”

Similarly, Nishan Singh, a former sarpanch of Kuttianwali village in Muktsar district, which was renamed as Sheranwala village in 2014, said, “Once a saint accompanied by a large number of followers had come to our village, villagers offered them food. He then told us that we should work as lions, but surprisingly the name of the village is Kuttianwali. Since he called us sher (lion), we started using the word Sheranwala for our village. However, officially the village name was changed in 2014. We had requested the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who then took up the matter with the Centre.”

Furthermore, a girl of Amir Khas village in Fazilka district, said her friends from other areas always tease her due to the strange village name.

Notably, there are a number of villages with funny names, some of these even named on animals, such as Jhotianwali, Gidderanwali, Sappanwali, Koharianwali, Beganwali, Killianwali, Kawanwali, Kirianwala, Billimar and Amir Khas in Fazilka district; Kattianwali, Chhapianwali, Bhangchari, Kabarwala, Lande Rode in Muktsar district; Fidde, Lalle, Bhedanwala, Kirianwala, Ittanwali and Katora in Ferozepur district.

Similarly, there are some villages with bizarre names such as Kuttiwal, Giddar, Bhagi Bandar, Lelewala in Bathinda district; Andianwali in Mansa district; Khote, Lande, Rode and Izzatwala in Moga district; Khuni Majra and Ghoga in SAS Nagar district; Moranwali in Faridkot district.

Advocate Gursimran Singh Dhaliwal from Chandigarh, who is a keen traveller, said, “It’s not just Punjab, there is Bhainsa town in Nirmal district of Telangana. Similarly, there is Bap town in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan and Chacha village in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. The list is long as many states have such names. If the names of any village is considered embarrassing or derogatory by the residents, anyone can request the state government or the Centre to change it. However, it is not an easy process as after renaming, the village name from all documents such as identity cards, revenue records has to be changed. ”