Why was the cyclone that hit Kolkata and Bangladesh in May 2009...

...named “Aila”? I was curious and so was a Mint reporter — he developed it into a story. How creative!

It turns out that storm names must be “...culturally sensitive and shouldn’t have a negative, inflammatory meaning”, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) website.

Click on this link to read the Mint piece by Jacob P. Koshy: "The nomenclature of cyclonic winds".

UPDATE (OCTOBER 12, 2013): CYCLONE PHAILIN, WHICH MADE LANDFALL ON INDIA'S EAST COAST YESTERDAY, WAS NAMED AFTER THE THAI WORD FOR SAPPHIRE.

• UPDATE (October 13, 2014): "How Cyclone Hudhud got its name".