Guest guest Posted August 23, 2002 Report Share Posted August 23, 2002 Very beautifully written! I wish all our politicians and all others who make mountains out of the molehills of societal, cultural and genetic differences, were to read this piece. Yours in Ahinsa, Manish Modi HINDI GRANTH KARYALAY Booksellers and Publishers http://www.hindibooks.8m.com Hirabaug, C. P. Tank, Mumbai 400004, INDIA Telephone: 00 91 22 3826739 Email: manish.modi On Tuesday 20 August 2002 17:43, you wrote: > On Ancient (Indian) History > > It is generally assumed that the function of history is only to give us > factual accounts of the events and people of past generations. And yet > when Voltaire quipped that history is a nothing more than a pack of tricks > we play on the dead, he was not too much off the mark in that historians, > unwittingly if not intentionally, tend to transform the past, especially of > the very distant past. > > It must be noted that history does many other things. It educates, > entertains, enlightens, inspires, and often gives a sense of pride and > unity to a people. These other functions of history are no less important > that its oft-imagined role of registering indubitable occurrences. A good > bit of mythology and the epics of various peoples constitute sacred history > precisely because of the cultural role they play. > > In the context of ancient Indian history, as indeed of all temporally very > remote history, it can't be denied that there is considerable mist in the > early phases. The disinterested inquirer may be eager to clear up the > nebulous past. But it is also true that in the current phase of India's > history, there are urgent needs for cultural commonalty and national unity. > It seems to me that it is not only natural, but also sensible and wise, to > present interpretations of the past - especially of times about wh ch no > one can be a hundred percent certain - that are more conducive to sectarian > harmony than those that have the potential for disunity and mutual > suspicion. > > The urgency to bring about national unity cannot be fully appreciated, > understood or deeply felt by those who are not part of the people. To the > outsider - no matter how scholarly and scientific and objective - the cold > facts convey no deeper meaning, they don't touch the heart and soul, there > is no pride in the reflection of ancient heroes, nor joy in the poetic > visions of one's ancestors. For those who recite and rejoice in them, there > is more to the Vedas than meters and myths. > > This is the root cause of the different perspectives on Indian history that > has sadly acquired confrontational aspects in our own times. This too is > the reason why there is much resentment among the people of the land when > aliens, with little sensitivity for current problems, and no experience of > divisive forces, loftily preach to the <natives> on how they should write > their history, sometimes with what is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as > deliberate or unconscious intensions to sow dissensions. That is hy, no > matter how persuasively erudite scholars may write with footnotes and all, > no matter how they <prove> their case with the relics of horses in Latvia > or Sanskrit-like sounds in Lithuania, the people of the country will not > abandon their prerogative to construct their own past in ways that are most > fulfilling to them. In the complex and troubled world in which we live, the > practical and pragmatic dimensions of history are no less important that > the so-called factual, especially when the latter rests on questionable > foundations. > > Napoleon once exclaimed rhetorically, "What is history if not a fable > agreed upon?" And this is important: If history is a fable, its moral must > be good. As I see it, irrespective of their truth-contents, the moral of > the Aryan invasion fable is not good for the present people of India. That > of the other fable is immensely beneficial. > > Am I suggesting that we abandon the quest for "Truth?" Of course not. I am > merely saying that in the matter of religion and culture, and ancient > history too, Truth is often tainted or enriched by the eye of the beholder. > > > > V. V. Raman > > August 20, 2002 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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