By Nupur Dogra:
What would you prefer?
Fucking, Boring, Dildo, or Intercourse?
1) Fucking in Austria is not a phrase but a village, located in the Western upper region of the country. Now before your imagination runs wild about the locals living there and their occupations, preferences and hobbies, let me tell you — they have a very small population of 104 people in total. Fucking for them means the settlement of Focko people. The settlement was first found by a nobleman namely Focko. It’s not that the Fuckingites are not aware of the English meaning; they know it very well, have cashed on it and also suffered its consequences. While the name attracted many tourists from all over the world, especially British tourists, it has also increased the crime rate. There is only one kind of crime in this village inspired by the name of the city itself. Tourists are the main criminals. The crime is theft and robbery of the hoardings, most of the traffic sign boards or directional hoardings get stolen by the amazed, exited people visiting the place. Be it a board saying ‘Welcome to Fucking’ or ‘Go Slow’ signs written with the village’s name above it; such innuendo-filled banners are the main attractions for tourists. Some prefer clicking photographs with them, some make videos having sex in front of these signs and some take the hoardings as souvenirs with them. They even have festivals in which musical bands perform. Some of the bands are Fucked Up, Fuck, Holy Fuck etc.
2)Â Boring is another place in Oregon, United states. I am not saying that the place is boring; it’s just boring by name. No matter how much boring I found my city, I would never name it boring. Though, it seems like Boringites do not think on similar lines. The community is actually named after one of its earlier residents W.H Boring, but there are many other ways to build up a memorial. Except a few facebook addicts who love posting pictures showing them doing some crazy stuff, who would like to visit a place called Boring?
3)Â Dildo: No, I am not talking about a sex toy. We in India don’t do so (at least in public). Dildo is a town in Newfound Land island of Canada. Yes, it is a name of a town. Dildoites don’t have any excuse like boringites and fuckingites, of being named after an ancestor. Also they don’t want any changes to the name as well. Dildo area has been into existence since 16th century (‘area’ here refers to the town). It is surprising that what India has banned in the country, Canada had a whole town named after it. Now who said Canada was an extension of Punjab? Must say they aim for higher sex education for their younger generation. I remember as a child I used to ask my parents what is the meaning of Delhi and India. I just wonder what answers the dildoites are giving to their children.
4) Intercourse is a village in Pennsylvania in the United States. The population of this town, unlike the name suggests, is roughly 1,558. One of the theories behind the name, which the natives propose is — the village was named ‘Intercourse’ due to the crossing of two roads in the middle of the town, and intercourse being a term also used for  “fellowship” or “social interaction”. The village has been highlighted in many movies and television shows. The village faces similar problems of robbery of hoardings like Fucking. In any case, there exist better names a village can have, and a better term that describes two roads crossing in the middle of the town.
5) After all these videshi or foreign towns, why should we leave India? We don’t lag behind in any way from the West. Though we don’t have as shocking names, but we do have our fair share of funny, insensible names. One of which is “Nava Pind Shonkiaan Da” located in Jalandhar city, Punjab, meaning ‘The Modern Village of Stylish and Zealous People’. The story of acquiring this name is funnier than the name itself. It is believed that people of this village were the first to use umbrellas under the sun. So they kept this name.
After hearing such names even Shakespeare won’t stick to his famous words — “What’s in a name?” Because the answer to it, as it turns out, is A Lot.