How Old or Modern can History get?

Quite contrary to the ‘bright students’ who excelled in Mathematics and Science, my favourite subjects were Social Sciences and Languages. While History, Geography and languages were Achilles Heels for most of the students, I considered the very same subjects as my forte. Still, I considered myself a bright or rather an exceptional student because I could achieve the unachievable or unfathomable. Anyway, that is all in the past. It’s History, which brings me to the present theme for my very first piece in this fresh year 2017.

As rote learning was inevitable in almost every subject that we learned in school, definitions had to be written word to word in exams to gain complete marks. Keeping that in mind, we reiterated every definition like a parrot, something which the coaching classes particularly emphasized on. One such definition which I remember till date is that of History. I still remember it, not because I am blessed with elephantine memory, but it made me look with a wider perspective at history. “History is the coherent account of all significant events of the past”, said our textbooks aka our Bibles in school. They further elaborated on why one must learn history- so that we learn from our past, they said. Past helps us to shape our present and future.

History is divided into ancient, medieval and modern. Evolution of man, the Mauryan and other well-known empires of India dating back to several centuries formed part of ancient history. Maharashtra’s deity, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his formidable feats against the Mughal Empire were chapters of medieval history. Several chapters in our textbooks covered the onset and expansion of Mughal Empire in India. Not limiting our view of history only to India, we learnt American, French and Russian Revolution as well. I remember how I loved reading about Renaissance and Reformation in the 14^th and 15^th century Europe. Modern history constituted Indian freedom struggle and the world destiny changing World Wars.

Present of those days are today’s past. When I think that our generation too, would be a thing of the past one day, what would our history be like? What would constitute as ‘history’ which our successors would learn about? Certainly, Indian freedom struggle and world wars would no more be ‘modern’ for future generations. In today’s world which is changing fast, any incident which is as old as 10 is also considered as ancient! So, what would be the significant events which could shape the future history? Surely, there have been so many events since Independence which have truly created a mark in history. But have we really learned anything from our history or is it only locked in our history textbooks, with its key thrown away in some deep ocean?

Take for example, the World Wars which happened in 1914 and 1939. The cataclysm which the wars caused could bring chills down anybody’s spine. The wars taught us that there is no victory in war; only despair and annihilation of mankind. Yet we face the biggest war of our times: Terrorism. Thousands of innocent lives are lost all over the world. Violence can never be a way of showing supremacy. We invest millions in arms and ammunitions and boast that we possess arms of latest technology. Similar to Nazis which left no stone unturned to carry out genocide, the world today is bogged down by global terrorism, which aims destruction of certain strata of society. It seems we learnt nothing from history after all.

Coming to Indian history, we learnt about social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule who strived to uplift women. If history means learning from our great ancestors, then we have miserably failed in this aspect. In a land of these venerable personalities, rape cases as gruesome as Nirbhaya’s or the very recent mass molestation in Bangalore happen. There are countless silent suffering women whose cases are not even filed by the police. It is ignominious that such cases happen in a society which wanders under the façade of egalitarianism.

History textbooks taught us the about the tyrannical British rule in India, as to how they exploited the people by taking away our wealth and heritage. With so many scams that we read about in newspapers, it is no different than how British treated the Indians. It is true since that era, that those in power robbed the commoners of their money and became even more powerful and richer. We learnt about the Non Co-operation movement, Civil Disobedience and revolutionaries of India in separate chapters. If history were to be written afresh, one could easily list the scams in India in different chapters!

Industrial Revolution which cradled in England in 1850 and spread gradually throughout Europe and the United States can be replaced with the present technological revolution which has eased man’s life over the years. We experience technological strides almost every day, in every field. We learnt about Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Bartholomew Diaz, Amerigo Vespucci who discovered various countries of the world. Today we are trying to discover life on Mars as well! Thus, history has surely given a thrust to technology and encourages us to continue exploring not only the world but also the universe.

In present news we read about Shivaji Maharaj’s memorial to be built on an islet in the Arabian Sea. The government intends to spend generously on it and the memorial is expected to be taller than Statue of Liberty. Given the engineering strength that we have today, it is not very difficult to build a grand structure like this. In one of the many inspiring chapters from Shivaji Maharaj’s life and the forts that he built, my favourite and jaw dropping structure is Sindhudurg Fort. Constructed in 1664 on an islet in Arabian Sea, this fort represents the epitome of engineering of that era and great vision of Shivaji Maharaj. History again taught us that nothing is impossible for human beings, as we are blessed with intelligence and mind better than animals.

Economics, also being a social science has seen many dynamic changes that have changed the face of Indian economy. The various Government initiatives, some notable ones beginning from 2014 to the very recent demonetization surely has taught us a lot, making us a part of economical revolution. We are in a phase where technology and economy are walking hand-in-hand to make a mark in history. From barter exchange to coins and paper money to cashless transaction, we have come a long way. We are witnesses of the new history that is made and will be engraved not only in textbooks but also in our minds.

History urges us to not repeat the mistakes of the past and also learn from the good that happened in the past. Time progresses. We progress, as individuals, as nations and as world. From handwritten letters and texts to emails, WhatsApp and Facebook, we grow, we develop. Some of my handwritten texts still bring me a sense of nostalgia and makes me explore my handwriting once again. I wish that someday I start writing my thoughts on papers, so that some people will explore my texts and preserve them like that Timbuktu Manuscripts!

One should not cling to the past, instead learn from the past and build a better present and future ahead. It is only then that history plays a successful role in reforming the minds. Let’s create history in such a way that when the future generations read about the revolutions we were part of, we only smile listening to them and say, “Those good old days!”