And he was Sivaji Ganesan, with the Ganesan being his real and given name. Sivaji was after all only a title, though that is the name by which he became famous. But whoever it was that has put up this sign evidently thought Ganesan was his caste name and so it should not be included. Oh no no! That would never do in this casteless society of ours! As for Chevalier becoming Sevalia!
On a similar note, the late BN Reddy, pioneering filmmaker, has a road named after him in T Nagar. His full name was Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy. The Reddy vanished when caste on road signs was ruled to be an anachronism. And so it became B Narasimha Road. Now it is Narasimman Road! How does it commemorate poor old BN?
Kudos to the sign maker! The chevalier seen in Tamizh is just perfect–to pronounce it the french way. The great Sivaji would have got it just right and also would have written it down that way. As for the Doctor, he has played many, and very convincingly at that–though the one time Sivaji stage role brought fame and a name to Madurai Ganesan.
Sevalia as seen here in English is a ‘savAl aiyyA’ 😉
Seriously, the new government can set up a Road Signs Commission to make a new list of the ‘correct’ names of the dignitaries and get the signs redone, to truly honor them.
And not to mention a bit of inconsistency. Near where I live, the English names on the new, shiny boards end with “Road” while the Tamizh ones end with சாலை (Saalai), as they should.