Change names for a fee, not for free

Changing the name of institutions is a veritable cottage industry in this country that leaves a bigger trail of Op-ed articles than it does of any real change. A rajnigandha by any other name et cetera et cetera. City and street names go under a name-swap to the outrage of traditionalists, the glee of self- styled neo-nomenklaturists and disinterest of most folks. So, there is a lesson for everyone in the possible name change of a University of Oxford college - the 59-year-old Linacre College - to Thao College. Not after the Thaosophical Society, but in honour of Vietnam's richest woman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who has donated it £155 million (₹1,577 crore).

Even though she is no imperialist-racist like Cecil Rhodes, after whom the coveted Rhodes scholarship is named, Thao, graduate of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, is a businesswoman who has made her money from a low-budget airline and oil and gas exploration, pursuits not aligned with Linacre's self-description as 'one of the greenest colleges in Oxford'. But this is renewable energy - money for a new graduate centre, scholarships, etc. And not many know (or care) who Thomas Linacre, a 15th-16th-century English humanist, is. So, here's the lesson: for a good sum of money, change names of moderately recent, unknown institutions. It's worth it, if you're not a nameskull.