Dr Sri, thank you for writing, I understand from Venkat's intro that you are a surgeon based out of UK, Vanakkam.
I don't know what to make about the name changes, I used to argue very much against them but some have been accepted so not sure. Chennai is more in use now than Madras even among those of us who never thought we will come around. I am reminded of this story my grandmother used to say, on a bridge on the Coovam. There was a bridge built in olden times by General Hamilton, it was named Hamilton Bridge after him. Locals liberally used the name and in colloquial tamil it started sounding like 'Ambattan'. Ambattan Bridge. After some time the DMK guys came long and started rationalizing - they figured Ambattan means Barber and again renamed it Barber's Bridge!! :) I thought the story was very funny, really nobody knows any real reason but we do all this regardless.
on name changes. sometime back some of our group members located a chennai map of 1870s. we had a long discussion on how pondy bazaar was a lake. on that the bridge that you are talking about near city centre is named as " barber's bridge."
the nearby graveyard is mentioned as berber( moor) 's grave yard.
i dont know how true this hamilton - ambattan transition took place.
Hamilton changed to Ambattan and then to barbers bridge - thats true. But its not during the DMK period.
A year or so ago, Venkat circulated two old maps of Madras (i still prefer Madras and use that name more than chennai. Somehow chennai doesnt come to naturally). One map was from 1897 and another 1906 if I am correct.
Those maps did have 'Barbers bridge' and not Hamilton or Abattan...meaning even during british period this name change occured.
Thank you Venkat for the map and for all the input. My story was just 'paatti kadhai' i have no idea how much was fact, just quoted that for names.
The recent karnataka decision to rename Bangalore 'Bendha kaalu' (boiled beans) attracted a lot of bad jokes here in the west. I am wondering when they will stop this craziness.