June 28, 2007...5:06 pm
Are We Proud of Our History?
Mahatma Gandhi’s letter is all set to be auctioned tomorrow. It is probably the last letter written by the Mahatma. Last year Vijay Mallaya bought the sword of Tipu Sultan from one such auction. Thanks to him a very important part of our history was saved from going into some foreign private collectors hands. This indicates how much importance we give to our history. These days importance is determined on the basis of utility. In the wake of such relentless practicality ‘History’ has to fight for its survival.
How many of us know that 6,000 years ago the Rig Veda proposed classifications of plant life based on morphological characteristics, or that a thousand year earlier than Copernicus, Aryabhatta proposed that the sun was the centre. Our elders studied astronomy, linguistics, mathematics, medicine and surgery, physics, technology, and fine arts thousands of years ago and on the basis of that knowledge later civilizations built their structures. Nineteenth century British historian Grant Buff writes, “Many of the advances in the sciences that we consider today to have been made in Europe were in fact made in India centuries ago.” And according to Einstein, “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.” (I don’t want to sound like Manoj Kumar)
Ashoka’s empire was known for its respect for humanity and animals. Buddhism played a key role in the development of the Indian civilization. It was one of the golden periods of Indian history. Science and arts flourished and that is why this region has a rich history of art and science. Chanakya’s Arthashastra is respected even now. Then Muslims came, enamored by the Indian knowledge and aesthetics, made it their home and gave this region an unprecedented glory and contributed toward its development. When Muslims came to the subcontinent they added to the glorious history of India.
Our govts are busy distorting history according to their own convenience. BJP has its own version and Arjun Singh his own. What happens to the poor students of history is nobody’s problem.
6 Comments
June 30, 2007 at 1:59 am
Our history tells us who we are, where we have come from and what we have accomplished. It is a source of strength and confidence that puts the changes of society into perspective and helps us to build a better future.
It def needs to be given its due importance.
What happens to the poor students of history is nobody’s problem.//
Personally I have always felt history is a an art. An art that does’nt pay much.
June 30, 2007 at 12:13 pm
That’s one thing that always haunts me.
Actually all of us want history to be something. An Indian wants to think of India as a glorious country- and everyone has his own definition of glory.. An American likewise. A Japanese does not like to know what the past Japanese government has done to the Chinese.
I am very happy about the intellectual tradition that we had in ancient times. We had a rich intellectual tradition even through the Muslim period. The language of Urdu being one of them.
What I am most proud of, of ancient India, is the number system. If you stop to think about it– it’s simply WOW. So neat, so clean, so simple, so ingenious.
Some people, unfortunately overdo it.. They want the old Indian scientists to have discovered the Aeroplane and the Quantum Mechanics and what not.
We all, to some extent, impose that wish on reality. It’s sometimes deliberate, sometimes involuntary.
We can try to avoid this, but we being human, there is no complete escaping it.
July 3, 2007 at 2:14 pm
One thing I have learnt from the history that we do not learn anything from the hisory - WInston Churchil.
Admittedly, history has significant importance to eveluate the standing of an individual or nation likewise. But One cannot march forward while looking back. It is good to to check our history , but again to assess our present standing. And definitely , Indian history seems more glorious then the present, I do not know about the future.
When we talk about history of five thousands years, many many details go unnoticed. When a young person has no but little past so he talks about future, where an old person who may have no future talks about past, and same things happen with nation. America has little past to talk about and thus they eye to future, where as other old nations including India talk about their history as these are what they have at the moment.
Talking about future, from an Indian’s perspective I see that the pool of Indian intelligence has reached at the global level and in future human may probably think globally.
We should definitely proud for our history, but at the same time we should see whether we are capable of repeating the history.
July 4, 2007 at 7:22 am
I agree with you on this issue 100 % since everytime i go to oldest part of Karachi and see beautiful yet decaying buildings… it’s like seeing my city’s treasure wasting right before my eyes, those building represents British era, an inevitable part of our history… i still wonder, what happened to those statues that were placed in the gardens, my grandfather used to tell us kids that they were magnificent but than one night, they all dissapeared…
July 5, 2007 at 6:12 am
“Many of the advances in the sciences that we consider today to have been made in Europe were in fact made in India centuries ago.”
Just boasting of our achievments is not the only thing..Try to answer why instead of this..we are still a developing nation..why are we so backward?
History is too good in its place…
July 10, 2007 at 11:24 am
Thanks everybody for your views. Sorry for replying late as I was not in town.
.//Try to answer why instead of this..we are still a developing nation..why are we so backward?//- Last few years have been different@ nitinrohidas. I hear people saying this is the best time to be Indian. The software boom has changed our image and things are changing. There is no room for complacency and our politicians are letting us down but we are growing inspite of them.
//everytime i go to oldest part of Karachi and see beautiful yet decaying buildings… it’s like seeing my city’s treasure wasting right before my eyes// you are right Lubz. In this part of the world we don’t respect our heritage.It is said that Delhi has more historical monuments than Rome. The truth is that most of them are in a bad state. Things are changing now and I hope that we wake up before it is late.
You have a point JV //When we talk about history of five thousands years, many many details go unnoticed. When a young person has no but little past so he talks about future, where an old person who may have no future talks about past, and same things happen with nation//.
Manas is right when he says that //A Japanese does not like to know what the past Japanese government has done to the Chinese.//We are all the same. we don’t like to be reminded about our blunders and that is why there is so much tinkering with our text books.
//What happens to the poor students of history is nobody’s problem//.Somebody thought about the poor students at last!!.Thanks Sree very thoughtful of you.
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