Delhi or Dilli

So what’s in a name? Lots, if you ask our sports minister M.S. Gill, who it seems is in a mood to change the name of Delhi to Dilli before the Commonwealth Games 2010. This recommendation was made by Gill to chief minister Sheila Dikshit at a conference recently. He was quoted as saying, "I always feel that Dilli, as the national capital is known locally, it is more close to the hearts of people than New Delhi. It also better describes the vibrant and cosmopolitan culture of the capital. After all it is sadi Dilli or hamari Dilli (our Delhi)," said Gill.
It all started with Bombay becoming Mumbai in 1996, soon Madras became Chennai and Calcutta became Kolkata. Silicon city Bangalore was renamed Bengaluru. So, will Delhi follow suit and change to Dehli or Dilli? We caught up with celebrities to gauge their response over re-naming of the capital.
Internationally acclaimed writer and historian William Darlymple says, "I don’t think it should be changed, but if it is to happen it should be changed to Dehli — its name during its greatest period of history. If it was changed to Dilli everyone would confuse it with the capital of East Timor."
"I think it makes a lot of sense to change Delhi to Dilli. Delhi was coined by the Britishers and Dilli sounds good. Though we write it as Delhi, most of us refer to our city as Dilli itself. Why shouldn’t Delhi join the bandwagon too, after other cities have changed their names? Dilli is a part of our history, it is closer to people’s heart. After all, Dilli dilwalon ki hai, the city is about its people and people will certainly connect to Dilli more than Delhi."