Mumbai's 'Hitler' eatery angers Indian Jews
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Right of Atilla The Hun
Posts: 19,749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mumbai's 'Hitler' eatery angers Indian Jews
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3772136a12,00.html
I honestly think that naming the restaurant has not that much to do with trying to provoke Jews or make a political statement. I think it is more related to starting/making a trend in a city that is very trendy.
MUMBAI: A new restaurant in India's financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country's small Jewish community.
Hitler's Cross, which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.
"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.
"We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different."
But India's remaining Jews - most migrated to Israel and the West over the years - say they are outraged by the gimmick.
"This signifies a severe lack of awareness of the agony of millions of Jews caused by one man," said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, the community's umbrella organisation.
"We are going to stop this deification of Hitler," he said without elaborating.
The small restaurant, its interior done out in the Nazi colours of red, white and black, also has a lounge for smoking the exotic Indian water pipe or "hookah".
Posters line the road leading up to it, featuring a red swastika carved in the name of the eatery. One slogan reads: "From Small Bites to Mega Joys".
A huge portrait of a stern-looking Fuehrer greets visitors at the door. The cross in the restaurant's name refers to the swastika that symbolised the Nazi regime.
"This place is not about wars or crimes, but where people come to relax and enjoy a meal," said restaurant manager Fatima Kabani, adding that they were planning to turn the eatery's name into a brand with more branches in Mumbai.
The swastika has its roots in ancient Indian Hindu tradition and remains a sacred symbol for Hindus. Nazi theorists appropriated it to bolster their central hypothesis of the Aryan origins of the German people.
Hitler's Cross, which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.
"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.
"We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different."
But India's remaining Jews - most migrated to Israel and the West over the years - say they are outraged by the gimmick.
"This signifies a severe lack of awareness of the agony of millions of Jews caused by one man," said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, the community's umbrella organisation.
"We are going to stop this deification of Hitler," he said without elaborating.
The small restaurant, its interior done out in the Nazi colours of red, white and black, also has a lounge for smoking the exotic Indian water pipe or "hookah".
Posters line the road leading up to it, featuring a red swastika carved in the name of the eatery. One slogan reads: "From Small Bites to Mega Joys".
A huge portrait of a stern-looking Fuehrer greets visitors at the door. The cross in the restaurant's name refers to the swastika that symbolised the Nazi regime.
"This place is not about wars or crimes, but where people come to relax and enjoy a meal," said restaurant manager Fatima Kabani, adding that they were planning to turn the eatery's name into a brand with more branches in Mumbai.
The swastika has its roots in ancient Indian Hindu tradition and remains a sacred symbol for Hindus. Nazi theorists appropriated it to bolster their central hypothesis of the Aryan origins of the German people.
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC
Posts: 17,016
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by bhk
"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.

p.s. Mumbai is a shitty name. You should have left it as Bombay.
#9
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Breakfast with Girls

p.s. Mumbai is a shitty name. You should have left it as Bombay.
I'll start calling it Mumbai when:
A) Hispanics stop referring to New York as "Nueva York"
B) The Irish start insisting that everyone refer to Dublin as Báile Átha Cliath.
#12
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Right of Atilla The Hun
Posts: 19,749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
But the name has officially been changed as well. It isn't just people living there insisting on it. It has been legislatively changed.
#13
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by bhk
But the name has officially been changed as well. It isn't just people living there insisting on it. It has been legislatively changed.
#14
DVD Talk Hero
I happen to prefer Bombay. That said, a place should be called whatever locals call it. I don't really get changing it. That's like changing someone's name to make them more consistent with the language you speak.
If someone is named Pedro, they're named Pedro, not Peter.
If someone is named Pedro, they're named Pedro, not Peter.
#15
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Bushdog
I happen to prefer Bombay. That said, a place should be called whatever locals call it. I don't really get changing it. That's like changing someone's name to make them more consistent with the language you speak.
If someone is named Pedro, they're named Pedro, not Peter.
If someone is named Pedro, they're named Pedro, not Peter.
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Right of Atilla The Hun
Posts: 19,749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Germany/Deutchland thing is different because Germans weren't ruled for 200+ years by someone who mispronounced Deutschland and called it Dutchland by mistake. That has happened to a few places in India. Vadodra for example is not Baroda.
#17
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by bhk
The Germany/Deutchland thing is different because Germans weren't ruled for 200+ years by someone who mispronounced Deutschland and called it Dutchland by mistake. That has happened to a few places in India. Vadodra for example is not Baroda.

The same thing happened in Ireland.
#18
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: NYC
Posts: 17,016
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by bhk
The people living there have always called it Mumbai.
The city of Bombay did not exist before the English built it, moving from the Mughal concession of their Surat 'factory' (precinct or compound) to the isles of Bombay which the Portuguese ceded to them as dowry for the marriage of a Portuguese princess with an English prince.
The Portuguese had conquered it in 1508 A.D. from the Arab Sultanate of Gujerat. The Arabs called it 'Al Omanis'. The Portuguese renamed it as 'Bom Bahia', the 'Good Bay', in appreciation of the excellent and deep harbour that it possessed on the east side. This bay is now called the Front Bay, a name given by the English, although, it is nowadays more commonly called the Harbour. (The Gulf on the south-west they called the 'Back Bay.')
The English developed Bom Bahia into Bombay.
The name Mumbai on the contrary, is derived from the temple of Mumbadevi, the Goddess Mumba. It is alleged that 'Mumba' is a shortening of 'Maha-Amba,' the Great Amba, Amba being one of the more famous Hindu goddesses.
However, there is no historical evidence available or offered for the claim that the name Mumbai in any form was ever attached to the territory before the advent of the English.
The Portuguese had conquered it in 1508 A.D. from the Arab Sultanate of Gujerat. The Arabs called it 'Al Omanis'. The Portuguese renamed it as 'Bom Bahia', the 'Good Bay', in appreciation of the excellent and deep harbour that it possessed on the east side. This bay is now called the Front Bay, a name given by the English, although, it is nowadays more commonly called the Harbour. (The Gulf on the south-west they called the 'Back Bay.')
The English developed Bom Bahia into Bombay.
The name Mumbai on the contrary, is derived from the temple of Mumbadevi, the Goddess Mumba. It is alleged that 'Mumba' is a shortening of 'Maha-Amba,' the Great Amba, Amba being one of the more famous Hindu goddesses.
However, there is no historical evidence available or offered for the claim that the name Mumbai in any form was ever attached to the territory before the advent of the English.
#19
DVD Talk Godfather
Other rejected insensitive Eatery names:
Pizzah Niggah...We deliver in 5 to 10 with good behavior
Wetback Babyback Joint
Tight Eye Pad Thai
Kraut's Kraut, Guido Pasta, and Nip Noodles!!! Just like your Axis mom used to make.
Pizzah Niggah...We deliver in 5 to 10 with good behavior
Wetback Babyback Joint
Tight Eye Pad Thai
Kraut's Kraut, Guido Pasta, and Nip Noodles!!! Just like your Axis mom used to make.
#21
DVD Talk Godfather
Let's see...
United States of America
Estados Unidos de America
Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika
États-Unis d'Amérique
Stati Uniti d'America
Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki
Amerikas förenta stater
In Spanish, USA is EE.UU. In German, USA is still USA.
I do have to admit, Côte d'Ivoire has a nice ring to it (as opposed to Ivory Coast).
United States of America
Estados Unidos de America
Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika
États-Unis d'Amérique
Stati Uniti d'America
Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki
Amerikas förenta stater
In Spanish, USA is EE.UU. In German, USA is still USA.
I do have to admit, Côte d'Ivoire has a nice ring to it (as opposed to Ivory Coast).
#22
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by bhk
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3772136a12,00.html
I honestly think that naming the restaurant has not that much to do with trying to provoke Jews or make a political statement. I think it is more related to starting/making a trend in a city that is very trendy.
I honestly think that naming the restaurant has not that much to do with trying to provoke Jews or make a political statement. I think it is more related to starting/making a trend in a city that is very trendy.
Both very bad ideas.
#24
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by bhk
I don't disagree with you there. The restaurant, though, got a lot of free publicity.