Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Sashi Tharoor has shared the difficulty of foreigners in pronouncing the name of his constituency and opined that the name of the capital city should have been Ananthapuri.
A recent viral video of South African cricket players struggling to pronounce the name of the Kerala capital persuaded the three-time Parliamentarian to come up with a post on his X handle in this regard the other day.
Barring some players, a majority of cricketers could be seen failing to pronounce the city name correctly in the brief video.
The South African cricketers arrived here recently for a warm-up match at the Karyavattom Greenfield Stadium ahead of the upcoming ICC World Cup.
"The South African have arrived in Thiruvananthapuram ! But can they tell anyone where they are?" Tharoor asked, sharing the viral video in which foreigners were seen pronouncing Thiruvananthapuram in different ways.
Noting that they don't do any better, the MP said he had listened in horror to many distinguished actors stumble over the name of the city during the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), an annual movie gala which Thiruvananthapuram hosts.
"They don't do any better. I've listened in horror to distinguished actors stumble over the name at the annual International Film Festival of Kerala. Very few of them manage to pronounce Thiruvananthapuram. We should have opted for Ananthapuri!," Tharoor added.
The southernmost district of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram drew it's name from "Tiru-Anantha-Puram", the city of Lord Anantha.
According to historians, it was earlier known as Tiruaanandapuram'', "Syanandapuram'' and "Sanandapuram." During the colonial era, it was known as "Trivandrum". PTI LGK SS
Featured Video Of The Day
Senior Lawyer Points To 'China Link' In Hindenburg's Attack On Adani Group
"We Are All Champions": Hardik Pandya's Blockbuster Praise For Fans After Victory Parade Virat Kohli Celebrates T20 World Cup Title With Family After India Return. See Pics 'What Does Mud Taste Like?': PM Narendra Modi's Question To Rohit Sharma Over Viral Gesture Keir Starmer, Set To Be Next UK PM, Changed Party's Stance On Kashmir Updates: Rishi Sunak Concedes, Successor Keir Starmer Says Public Ready For Change Keir Starmer To Be Next UK PM: What This Means For India From Crumbling Public Health Scheme To Economic Crisis, Why Rishi Sunak Lost Out On Parole, Amritpal Singh, Engineer Rashid Take Oath As Lok Sabha MPs "I Am Sorry...Have Heard Your Anger": Rishi Sunak As He Leaves Office Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.