Tam and Bong cyclone names

Now that the weather department has decided to name cyclones hitting India too, I think that we should insist that they follow the Americans’ lead completely and name them keeping in mind the region they are hitting. Tamils and Bengalis should insist on assigning Tamil and Bengali names for the cyclones, not boring ones like Baaz and Agni. Haven’t we heard those before? I for one, would like to hear “Cyclone Kalaiselvi has moved further north and it looks like it will give Chennai a miss” or “Cyclone Priyaranjan has further intensified and will hit Kolkata”.

There aren’t many cyclones hitting the west coast, but of course the ones that do should be given Maharashtrian names. I would love to reel under a cyclone named Dhurander Bhatwadekar.

14 thoughts on “Tam and Bong cyclone names”

  1. Of course Punjab being inland will never face cyclones at all. Perhaps sardars should lobby for western depressions to be given names as well. Then weather forecasters can announce that Depression Jasmeet will lead to heavy showers over Delhi.

  2. I wonder why they suddenly decided to name cyclones. Perhaps they got bored of hearing about Katrina, Rita etc. etc. and wanted desi names for the storms in their own neck of the woods.

  3. Ravi, it should be Bhatawdekar (at least it is pronounced that way), not Bhatwadekar.

    Just for old times’ sake, how about assigning a Parsi name or two? Hormuz Tobaccowala or Dinyar Panthakki sound equally reelable, if not more, and they are as rare now as the cyclones hitting the West Coast.

    Baaz and Agni are ridiculous names…Agni? for a cyclone? The Mets must be crazy…

  4. Ravi,

    You demonstrate a strong bias towards TN and WB. Don’t forget our fellow citizens from AP and Orissa who too suffer from these hurricane. Add Jayaprada and Mahapatra to that list.

  7. Nitin, the original idea behind naming cyclones was to give them easy-to-remember-and-refer-to names. If you have a cyclone called PSBBTNDAVSS Sathya Prathipathi, that sort of defeats the purpose.

    Mahapatra is fine though.

  8. @ Aadisht: PSBB – why drag my school through here?

    Tam names are the simplest that way – Munimma, Munsami, Kuppi, Appachi and so on

  10. Lol on Nandan’s Parsi names. May i also nominate kunjikannan and ammukutti for reelers with plans to visit the malabar coast..

  11. If we are talking Telugu names, I’d rather go with the more typical “Appa Rao”, “Subba Rao” and “Subba Lakshmi” rather than the pretender, “Jayaprada”.

  13. Well Cyclones are named after females…!! You know why ?

    It’s an old joke that “Cyclones are like women bcos, when they come they are “Wild & Wet” and when they leave, they take away all your belongings & leave you broke”.

  14. he he… cool names:)
    @Aadisht, if our newsreader fumbles a bit, as they are prone to do, we might hear “Depressed Jasmeet will lead to heavy showers over Delhi.” he he…

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