อินเดียเปลี่ยนชื่อ “แก้วมังกร” ฮึ่มชวนให้นึกถึงจีน ปรับใหม่เป็น “กมลัม” ผลไม้ดอกบัว

FILE PHOTO: Vijay Rupani walks with India’s PM Modi after taking his oath as the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during a swearing-in ceremony at Gandhinagar. REUTERS

An Indian state’s decision to rename dragon fruit because of the original name’s “association with China” has set off a storm of jokes and memes. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the fruit would now be called kamalam, Sanskrit for the lotus flower. The lotus is sacred to Hindus and is India’s national flower. /agrifarming/

The Gujarat government has applied for a patent to change the nomenclature of dragon fruit. Credit: K. Murali Kumar

File Photo: India began cultivating dragon fruit only in recent years and it’s now grown in parts of Gujarat too. It belongs to a family of cactus – and is believed to have earned its fearsome name because its pointy outer layer resembles the scales of a dragon. Though it’s a tropical fruit native to Central America and is largely imported from South America, many in India associate it with China because of its name. REUTERS