SOURCE: Mahesh Langa, The Hindu
The Gujarat government’s move to rename dragon fruit as ‘Kamalam’, since according to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani the fruit’s outer shape resembles a lotus, has split internet and social media platforms with twitteratis and others posting comments ridiculing it or taking a sarcastic dig.
Speaking at the launch of the Chief Minister Horticulture Development Mission, a new scheme to promote horticulture in the State’s unproductive land parcels, Mr. Rupani said, “We have applied for the patent of the dragon fruit to be called ‘Kamalam’. But as of now, the Gujarat government has decided to call the fruit ‘Kamalam’.”
He added that farmers in Gujarat’s Kutch, Navsari and other parts were growing the dragon fruit and hence it should have a local name too.
“Though it is known as dragon fruit, it does not sound appropriate. The word ‘Kamalam’ is a Sanskrit word and the fruit does have the shape similar to the lotus flower, so we have decided to call it ‘Kamalam’ ”, he said, stressing that “renaming of the fruit has nothing political about it.”
It may be noted that the ruling party in Gujarat and in the country BJP’s election symbol is lotus and Gujarat BJP’s sprawling headquarters on Ahmedabad Gandhinagar highway is named Shri Kamalam but Chief Minister emphasised that change of nomenclature of the fruit was a non-political move.
‘Reminds of China’
Another reason, Mr. Rupani cited for renaming the fruit was that word dragon reminds one of China so it’s all the more relevant to give it a local name.
The Chief Minister also highlighted its nutritional value and price factor since its one of the most expensive fruits available in the market.
Meanwhile, the move has evoked sharp comments on social media platforms evoking derision to sarcastic digs while netizens running hashtag #SanskariFruitSabzi as one of the top trending topic on Twitter.
Among those who commented included Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress parliamentarian Karti Chidambaram and many others who had fun with the latest move.
‘Dragon has been slayed’
“Hallelujah! The dragon has been shown its place… oh wait, I meant dragonfruit.” Was the comment Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on Twitter while Karti Chidambaram posting “The Dragon has been slayed!”
The celebrity chef Kunal Kapur also posted a comment: “Gujarat government renames #dragonfruit as Kamalam. Looks like our priority for the nation is set. We were not satisfied renaming the cities, we need to rename vegetables and fruits too. By the way, COVID is on, the economy took a hit, we are in the middle of a pandemic.”
Standup comedians, journalists and social media influencers also found the changing of the name amusing, prompting them to post memes or emojis.