Renaming

In the Gospel of the day, Jesus renames Simon as Peter.  Later Saul becomes Paul.  Though not as prevalent as before, even today those joining some religious orders are given a new name.  Some of this renaming craze has rubbed on to Yogi Adiyanath, the UP Chief minister and Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime minister, who are renaming cities and islands across the country. 

Yesterday the Church celebrated the name feast of Jesus.  The name refers to an identity.  A personhood.  Not so long ago, Bombay was renamed Mumbai.  I wonder if that name change transformed the city into something better or more noble.  If not, what end did the change achieve?  This name tampering is a sign of uncertainty or anxiety.  Not sure of what the present situation will lead to. Hence the itch to do something without really addressing basic issues.  Unfortunately in most cases, the change is only a cosmetic change.  Nothing really changes (except a huge expense for the exchequer, in the cases of chaning names of cities).  However, if there is a change and then people wish to rename an identity, then it makes some sense.  But to hope that by merely changing a name, the whole identity will change is to dream in broad daylight.