Hindustan Times
Present Tense
I was about to begin this post with a line I just remembered I’ve used before – ‘One of the happiest things about being a journalist is…’
So I stopped and thought I’d think of another opener, but I’ve changed my mind again. Because it’s 4 am by my computer clock, I’ve just sent the May 10 edition of Brunch to press, I’m waiting for the office car to return from dropping other late night workers home so I can go home, and I’m tired, okay? I’ve been up since 6.30 am yesterday. Coming up with an original opening line is going to require a more dynamic brain than I possess at this time.
So you’re stuck with it. And here goes: One of happiest things about being a journalist is that you sometimes get books for free.
Books for free, that is, if the publication you work for has a books page (which HT does) which means publishers send tons of books for review – more books than we ever have space to review. And if the editor of that books page is a kind person (which the editor, Mr I Hazra himself, is), some of the un-reviewed books could well be passed on to you, free, no charge, except you have to be in Delhi to browse and collect. I live and work in Bombay, so that doesn’t happen very often. But last year after I spent a few days in Das Capital on work, I returned with excess baggage that kept me happy and occupied for a long time.
One of the books I snatched off Ye Books Page Ed’s desk was something I’d lusted after for quite a while. Upinder Singh’s A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. It costs a staggering Rs 3,500, so there was no way I was going to buy it, much as I wanted it. And since it seemed too much to hope to get it any other way than by buying it, I’d resigned myself to either never reading it, or reading it in snatches at Landmark or Crossword, whichever bookshop happened to have it.
It’s not an easy book to read even though it’s supposed to be aimed at the lay reader as well as the serious student of history. But I’m a lay reader with a great interest in history, so I enjoyed it. But even as I read it, I found myself asking the same question I always ask when I read history. What purpose does it serve?
Remember, I am very, very interested in history. I love delving into the past, discovering connections, trying to imagine how people lived (very much like we do now, I think, though of course without our technology).
But having said that, what is the point of history? Is it really important to research the past? Yes, we’re told, because we could learn from it. But if there’s one thing history itself shows, it’s that we don’t learn from it. Every passing generation of people is a new generation of people, convinced the issues of its own day are different from the issues of yesterday (though actually, most big issues have been exactly the same since time began).
History can also give you pride and confidence and those are good things to have, particularly if you come from one of the countries that were once colonised. You can to an extent compensate for the humiliation of that by saying, yes, but we had glorious, powerful, intellectually and artistically rich times too. But if some parts of your history make you feel particularly humiliated, chances are you’ll wind up angry and will hold today’s generation of those former humiliators responsible for the ‘crime’. And many, many of us do just that.
Which is why many of today’s issues are continuations of centuries-old issues. Which I find weird, but also understand in a strange sort of way. Because the truth is, forgiving is a very difficult thing to do.
So would forgetting make things any different?
(6 votes, average: 3.83 out of 5)
Loading ...
D10 Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Very interesting subject! Incidentally, even I was able to procure a free copy of Dr. Upinder Singh’s book – hardcover no less! I have been a student of history and in those three years (in one of which I was fortunate enough to have been taught by Dr. U Singh…), I have realized more than ever how important it is that history is studied by everyone!
First and foremost, one needs to be conscious that history is not about objective facts. It never has been and never will be. Only someone who understands history as being beyond only people, monuments, events and wars will realize that history has always been about interpretation. That itself is the most important lesson that history teaches you! The understanding that your perspective is not the only one, and that there is another way of looking at the same situation is especially important today when intolerance is growing tremendously!
Also, people need a more nuanced understanding of history because it shapes how we view the present. History is not just about learning lessons. It is not something divorced from the present. History affects the present in many ways! It is history which caused the Babri Masjid demolition for instance. The point is that people need to be more aware of the those times simply to understand that the picture is not a clear black and white! This awareness I feel might itself be sufficient to restrain a man for striking another on these issues!
How we are taught history and how they study it (even if they hate it!) shapes our sense of self and identity in subconscious ways. We know India’s history of plurality for instance and that is part of our ethos. How different people interpret it is a another matter. Imagine the strange identities which our neighbours across the border are developing , when their history begins with the Harappan civilization (which they can’t deny!) and jumps straight to the Muslim invaders!
Forgetting things won’t make them disappear!
[Reply]
Samar Halarnkar Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
What an excellent blog, aided no doubt by being bleary eyed.
I love history, and I find I have more books on popular history than anything else
[Reply]
Kushal Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Grin, thanks Samar. I often find that the urge to get out of the office makes me surprisingly clear-headed and quick when I have to write. Except for opening lines.
Sana Reply:
May 9th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Hey thanks for the lovely post, I still remember the time when our 11th grade history teacher took us to the National museum, to explore the harappan civilisation. Its the way you are taught a particular subject that matters the most.
Thanks a lot for putting in so much of effort into Bruch, my sundays incomplete without it, though I get a shouting for figitting with the newspaper to find the hidden copy that comes out as a delightful surprise from the hidden pages. Its worth the struggle:)
Great post. Thanks!
Kushal Reply:
May 9th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
At the Indian Museum in Calcutta, Sana, the exhibits are taken care of very badly. Hardly any protective glass cases, statues and other things scattered about so everyone can touch. My good citizen instinct is to howl in protest. My inner history freak loves it, though. because you can actually touch something that’s millennia old and that is so amazing. That gives you such a sense of wonder. How can you NOT like history after that?
And thank you for your kind words about Brunch. It’s a pleasure, really. So glad you like what we do.
Kushal Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
This is just an academic argument for me, D10. I didn’t take history in college though I might have. I was just as keen on history as I was on English, so when I was accepted into both streams, the only way I could decide was by flipping a coin. Which took me to English.
Yes, we are shaped by history, whatever we know of it — and what we choose to make of it. (I’ve been worried for years about Pakistanis and their refusal to have a history. And the Afghans, for that matter. How freaky is that??) But I think it takes an already open mind to understand the shades of grey you talk about. Or at least, a mind open to opening. Usually, though, for most of our school years, we don’t question what we’re taught because we study simply to pass exams. And by the time we get into the Plus 2, when we’re freer to question and discuss, the people who haven’t chosen history have certain ideas that are unshakeable for the simple reason that they usually have nothing to do with history as a subject after that.
Yet, however open-minded you are, and even if you’ve studied history, there are emotional responses you can’t deny. I was posted to London years ago when I was with The Asian Age. I once had to go to the House of Lords for a press conference. And I was completely freaked out when I walked in and thought, completely out of the blue: So this was where General Dyer was acquitted for Jallianwala Bagh. What had previously been a date in my history book that I’d mugged up for the ISC came alive and it HURT. Badly. And I was angry and upset and couldn’t handle it.
I wonder what it’s like to be completely blank about your past. To not know where you come from, not even the location. So many wars and conflicts, so many floating refugees… there must be so many people out there who have no idea who they are.
Does that make a difference, I wonder?
[Reply]
Sonu Reply:
May 9th, 2009 at 1:03 am
History in school texts is just a series of dates one has to mug up to score at the exam. When history becomes about people, it is never boring … you are right , it makes you wonder where you’ve come from…will your footprints be seen on the sands of time….
Kushal Reply:
May 9th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Well, assuming we don’t actually blow up the world with our nuclear devices or commit species suicide with climate change, one day 1,000 years hence, some archeologist is likely to dig up our fossilised remains and wonder how we lived. Quite a fascinating thought, isn’t it, Sonu?
D10 Reply:
May 9th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I agree with your point. One needs an open mind to appreciate the shades of gray. My point is that there is nothing like studying history to remind one of the myriad shades of gray! If only more people were taught better how to appreciate history and were not subjected to too many biased versions of it, I’m sure it would make a difference. I say this after meeting so many ‘educated’ people with such distorted and polarized ideas about the past that it makes one very sad! Of course a lot of this is to do with how history is taught in schools. There are very few teachers who are able to bring across the magic of history, and its importance to school children, and that is a pity!
As for the emotional response, you are spot on! I felt the same way in the Lahore Museum, where an entire gallery was devoted to the achievements of the Pakistani army. At the entrance was a huge wing from an Indian aircraft which had clearly been shot down by the Pakistanis. It makes one’s heart go cold! For a moment I forgot that I was on a peace trip, for cultural exchange with people who had nothing to do with the wars!
Yet, history can’t be wished away. Whichever way it is interpreted, it shapes us. To be blank about one’s past would mean to be blank about one’s identity! Academically or emotionally, the importance of history is undeniable. Of course people take the lessons they want to from history and conveniently forget what doesn’t suit them!
Kushal Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Lahore – ouch! Though, to be fair, I’m sure they feel the same about us. It’s a funny thing, this sense of identity. How it’s so purely emotional. And SO territorial. That is the most basic instinct, isn’t it?
If you have the time (it’s VERY long), read this: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4862&print=1