Not Noddy, Tom & Pingu, but ‘Adu, Sanju & Teju'—BJP wants Mumbaikar penguins to have Marathi names

The Print

2 days ago

'We are not saying anything about the names of penguins that have come from the foreign countries. But, these three penguins are born in Mumbai, on our soil,' Nitin Bankar, who heads the BJP's Byculla unit, said to ThePrint.
The idea behind the demand is that the three chicks were born on Mumbai's soil and must not have foreign names. Their names should be rooted in Marathi. Mumbai BJP leaders also held a protest outside the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Vanaspati Udyan and Zoo, popularly known as the Byculla Zoo, Monday to emphasise their demand.
Mumbai: Leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Mumbai unit want three baby penguins born in the city in March this year to be renamed from Noddy, Tom and Pingu to 'Adu, Sanju and Teju.'
'In Mumbai, it is compulsory for all shops and establishments, too, to display their names in Marathi. The state government has said all official communication within the government should be in Marathi. The Centre has accorded Marathi classical language statues. So, why can't the three penguins have a Marathi name?' Bankar said.
He added, Adu, Sanju and Teju are name suggestions that he has put forth to the BMC.
The BJP's demand comes ahead of local elections expected to be held across the state, including in Mumbai for the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), this year.
Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of the Byculla Zoo, did not respond to ThePrint's calls and messages for a comment.
Bankar said Tripathi was unavailable to meet the protesters Monday.
'But, his second in command promised us to find a solution to the issue in 10 days. If they don't change the name in 10 days, we will have an even bigger protest and have the zoo shut down,' Bankar said.
The BJP leader said he first wrote a letter to the zoo authorities on 30 April, 'within 3 days of the naming ceremony of the baby penguins'. When there was no response to his letter, he wrote another one a month later on 30 May.
'I have not received anything from the zoo authorities on my letter,' Bankar said.
Local BJP leaders, under Bankar's leadership, have also been protesting the branding of the zoo on all social media platforms as 'Mumbai Zoo' when its officially named after Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji's mother.
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Mumbai's penguin colony
When the BMC first brought penguins to Mumbai's Byculla zoo, the civic body faced much flak with several politicians as well as members of the civil society, saying it was wasteful expenditure and raising questions on whether the penguins will be able to survive in the city. The penguins are kept in an 1,800 sq ft fortress enclosure with CCTVs, rocky caves, ice, and artificial ponds.
The Byculla zoo in Mumbai has had penguins as one of its star attractions since 2016, when the BMC got eight Humboldt penguins to the zoo from South Korea. The penguins were all named after popular cartoon characters—Donald, Daisy, Popeye, Olive, Flipper, Bubble, Mr Molt and Dory.
Dory died a few months after coming to Mumbai due to a bacterial infection.
Penguins in captivity are monogamous and choose a lifetime partner. Mr Molt, the youngest male among the eight Humboldts, and Flipper, the oldest female, are the most popular pair in the zoo.
They had the first penguin baby in Mumbai in 2018. The chick, born on 15 August, however, could not survive and died within a week.
But, since then, the colony has only expanded. In 2021, a new chick was born who was named Oreo. Then gradually the penguins reproduced some more to add new members to their family—Nemo, Dora, Siri, Flash, Bingo, Alexa, Coco, Stella, Jerry and so on.
Other animals born in the Byculla zoo are mostly given Indian names. For instance, two tiger cubs born around the same time as Nero, Siri and Dora were named Jai and Rudra.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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