A fact from V. P. Ramakrishna Pillai appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 22 June 2014 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article has been automatically rated by a bot or other tool because one or more other projects use this class. Please ensure the assessment is correct before removing the |auto= parameter.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject India, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of India-related topics. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page.IndiaWikipedia:WikiProject IndiaTemplate:WikiProject IndiaIndia articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Socialism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of socialism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SocialismWikipedia:WikiProject SocialismTemplate:WikiProject Socialismsocialism articles
Latest comment: 10 years ago8 comments5 people in discussion
The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.
Oppose, per WP:COMMONNAME. This is not purely a matter of style, but one of adapting to a regional practice. Even if it is not 100% consistent, this is the prevailing practice. And in one of the cases above, the name is given as "V P Ramakrishna Pillai" (i.e. with spaces instead of punctuations). --Soman (talk) 14:45, 25 June 2014 (UTC)Reply
It isn't the prevailing practice, however. It is merely stylistic. Some publications will give his name as V.P., some as VP, some as V. P., some as V P. This isn't restricted to India; this is common everywhere. In the UK, where I come from, it is just as common to see all these different forms, and every publication and individual has their own house or personal preferred style. We are much better off adopting a consistent style on Wikipedia, which is by and large what we have done. No, it will not be everyone's preferred style (I, for instance, tend to go with spaces and no full stops when not writing for Wikipedia, which is probably the commonest form in the UK, used by the BBC amongst others), but it is a perfectly acceptable and correct style and I think it's a good idea using it for all articles in which initials are used. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)Reply
But this isn't just about this person. It is about a practice that differs from UK English. South Indian initials don't function in same way as Western initials, they form a sort of compound. It looks very strange to see usage like 'E. M. S.' instead of 'EMS' or 'E.M.S.'. --Soman (talk) 15:40, 25 June 2014 (UTC)Reply
You claim this, but the Kerala Regional Assembly and Electoral Commission of India both use the Wikipedia recommended style and the Times of India uses spaces and no full stops! In fact, of the cited sources, only The Hindu uses the style you claim is prevailing. Are you really saying that the two official bodies and India's most famous newspaper are using a style that looks very strange to Indians? Are they not reliable sources for Indian usage? It does rather seem that your opinion is not backed up by the sources. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:42, 25 June 2014 (UTC)Reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.