Welcome To Poo, And 11 Other Unfortunately-Named Places In India

NEW DELHI: I spent the last few days of 2015 and the first few of 2016 travelling through the Indian mountains. Somewhere in Himachal Pradesh, I heard of a small town named “Poo” or “Pooh” -- a hamlet (by Indian standards) of just 1000 people with luscious green fields, apricot orchards, vineyards and almond trees. Intrigued by the name, I decided to go off course and venture into Poo, doubly thrilled at the opportunity of sending a New Year’s greeting to my family identifying my location as Poo, India.

Poo lived up to the misnomer; the town was delightful and I spent a chilly evening drinking the most amazing locally made apricot liqueur. The people spoke a dialect similar to Tibetan, and to add to the mysticism of it all -- there’s an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Buddha dating to the 1st century AD.

The chance visit to Poo made me think about the myriad possibilites India has to offer. “What’s in a name…” I thought, “if Poo can smell so sweet” and a quick Google search revealed that Poo is just one of several oddly named places in India.

Next on my list is now Gadha, Gujarat (no offence to Gujaratis). Located in Sabarkantha district, Gadha seems to be a typical Gujarati village.

Also in Gujarat is a place called Wankaner. Enough said.

From there, I’ll move to Kala Bakra, Punjab

Also on the bucket list is Daru, Jharkand. Daru means liquor in Hindi.

But nothing beats Chutia, Jharkhand.

In Orissa, there is a place called IB.

Add to that Digha in nearby West Bengal.

In the heartland of northern India, Uttar Pradesh is a place called Clutter Buck Ganj.

And in God’s Own Country, welcome to Divine Nagar, Kerala.

Not feeling Divine, try out Erode, Tamil Nadu.

My personal favourite however, is Kutta, Karnataka (Kutta means dog in Hindi).