do you hate studying history .... or did you ever , some lonnnnnnnng time back ....?
The question that whether history is to be studied or not is often debated. Mostly these debates are carried on by the students who are in school and are harried by the long and boring lectures they have to endure. the often long answers they have to memorize including the various details like the dates and the cause- consequence questions. Though I had an inclination towards history in my school days itself, I was irritated by the fact that more than the events that happened in the history …. What was stressed upon was the memory power of the students who naturally memorized them (myself included) and in the process lost the interest to actually spare a thought to what happened and on the long run developing aversion to history itself.
I like researching and reading about history a lot and my best guide has been wikipedia on the internet.
Reading history is very necessary.
It gives us an idea and the understanding about the current world and what has given rise to these situations. it also gives an overall understanding of the situations in the countries all over the world .. More so in the current FLAT WORLD.
Chronicling the events is very important as it is the final answer to the question “who am I “ . it tells u who u are in context to the world and our current standing and also the question “ main aisa kyun hun…”
And most important of all is to properly and correctly chronicle the world events.
We as Indians have in a way failed to communicate and are not very proud of our history …..
Here I would like to include the conversations I had with one of my co-passengers aboard a train ….
During some conversation when I was vehemently arguing on the side of the Jews …. He asked me a question……. “How many people do u think died due to the holocaust…?”
I replied that around five- six millions of them …….
Then he asked me “have u heard about the Bengal famine …..? “ …..
I thought for a second and replied “ yes I have ….” . he asked me how many do u think have died in that …. I replied that I had no idea…..
To that he replied that around 20 millions!!!!! of them perished due to the artificially created famine by the britishers….. it was my turn to be speechless ….
He said that the Jews were actually successful in their propaganda also in tricking the world into backing them in whatever they do in future…. No one denies the holocaust or the miseries the Jews suffered during those years,
But …they still justify all their actions based on the incident ( however heinous and horrible it may be ) that happened sixty years back……..
My point in narrating this incident was not that we should make a hue and cry about eh Bengal famine ….. my point was in highlighting the necessity of knowing one’s history properly and also the importance of the necessity in correct chronicling of the events.
One more interesting thing that he told me was that …..
Mc aulay was one of the early British lords who came to India. He said in one of the speeches he gave in the House of Lords ….. “When I traveled the length and breadth of India …. I was surprised not to find even a single beggar!!! The Indians are so proud of their heritage that they never stretch their hands and ask for alms….. if we want to rule such people … we have to destroy their self- esteem and make them believe that Europeans are superior to them and must rule them .”
I was dumb struck, awed …. And whatever u can say ……. . I still shake my head in disbelief every time I come across a traffic signal….. Thinking what years of oppression can do to us … and how we lost our self confidence and self – reliance.
