name

According to journalist, writer, and professor, G.V. Desani, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's name literally translates to Action-Slave Fascination-Moon Grocer.

John Coltrane, the legendary jazz saxophonist, had a son named Ravi who was named after Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist.

India's first nuclear test was conducted in 1974 in Pokharan, Rajasthan. It was codenamed Smiling Buddha.

The Tamil word for the dhole (aka Asiatic wild dog aka Indian wild dog) is Chennai (red dog).

For a few centuries before independence, a part of southern Vietnam was called Cochinchina. It was so named by 16th century Portuguese traders to distinguish its Malay name, Kuchi, from their Indian base in Cochin/Kochi in Kerala.

Timur / Tamerlane / Timur the Lame, founder of the Timurid dynasty and decimator of 5% of the world's population had a son named Shah Rukh.

Rabindranath Tagore's family name was actually Banerjee. Being Brahmins, the Tagore family's ancestors were referred to as 'Thakurmashai' or 'Holy Sir'. During the British rule, this name stuck and they began to be recognised as Thakur and eventually the family name got anglicised to Tagore.

Some Indian languages have chosen to name the planet Uranus, Prajapati, after the Hindu/Vedic Creator persona. Some prefer the term Harshal, an Indianisation of Herschel. Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781 and named after the Greek god of the sky, father of the Titans, and grandfather of the Greek pantheon.

Some Indian languages have chosen to name the planet Neptune, Varun, after the Hindu/Vedic god of water/rain/ocean. Neptune was discovered in 1846 and named after the Roman god of the sea.

Many Indian languages have chosen to name the "planet" Pluto, Yama, after the Hindu god of death. Pluto was discovered in 1930 and named after the Greek god of the underworld/afterlife.