Colonial hangover dwarfs Indian property sector

India’s affection with the western culture, especially British or English culture, seems to be unending. During the heyday of the Raj, English language enjoyed predominance in India naturally but that was changed by a nationalist flavor in the succeeding decades of independence and we had several projects adorned by Indian names even in New Delhi, the national capital.

Take for instance Chanakyapuri. It is an affluent neighborhood in Central Delhi, located about 14 km. from Delhi Airport. Chanakyapuri, in all honesty means the city of “Chanakya” and is named after Chanakya, the Indian Machiavelli and a third century BC Maurya political advisor, master strategist and prime minister. But the significance of Chanakyapuri is more than this.

It plays host to a majority of foreign embassies in India, and is home to a number of their staffs. Chanakyapuri was also developed as official residences for both politicians and civil servants to the Union Government. As such, it has numerous parks and open spaces, and suffers few utility disruptions. This is a mere example and several other instances can be found all over the country.

But the same feeling is no more and what we are witnessing at present is just the reverse. It seems that the status of English language has been revitalized, as more and more residential projects (including those in the offing) are having western names.

This is of course a new trend and in any Indian city these days, you can come across housing projects, especially in the posh areas, with English names. It may be anything like Hamilton Heights or Mayfield Garden or Mandevilla Garden but each one speaks of the same mindset.

Our question is the reasons behind this seminal change. Well, renowned builders and developers are quick to response. As per them, Indian society has changed to a great extent if compared with the first one or two decades following national independence in 1947. There has been the introduction of consumerism and other cultural changes in the Indian society and the whole country is to shed the colonial memories yet.

Besides, India has already been regarded as one of the budding superpowers and this reality has made Indian affluents get in touch with changing trends of globalization more than ever before and as a result, addition of English names attach a prestige value.