HISTORY
– a borING and trivial subject
Some
light on its INTANGIBLE VALUE
Present day youth have an aversion to learn history. They think it is a subject wherein one has to
remember a lot of names of kings/queens/dictators/generals, palaces/fort, dates
of battles/war and many more. They feel that it is a waste of time to know
about the past, a thought of an ignorant and immature mind.
Dictionary defines history as
“a continuous,
systematic narrative
of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle”.:
Every living being, organization, group, nation
scientific development/device product, system, religion, has their own history
of origin, development and end or current status giving causes and consequences
of various events during their survival period.
Critics of history fail to realize that they have their own
history.
Study of History was very primitive in India due to
absence of documentation culture. The
“Sthala Puranam” of temples was more mythological than historical. Sir.
William Jones took the initiative in 1781 to explore and bring out the history
of India. The Archaeological survey of
India was initiated by Alexander Cunningham and the final shape was given by
Lord Curzon in 1902. Numerous
excavations have taken place in the last 100 years to get a good idea about
ancient India.
Concept
of Museums, a reminder of the of past history
Western culture is very keen to preserve past
history. All the cities in the West will
have a museum to speak about the heritage and past history of the country. Huge
amount of money is spent on preserving the museums. It is not viewed as a place for pass time. A few facts about world famous museums:
British Museum, London: Founded: 1753, Visitors:
5.93 million (2008/9), Collection:
8 million objects, Area- 75,000 Sq. mtr
Louvre Museum, Paris:
Area: 60600 Sq mtr, Visitors: 9.7
million (2012).No. Objects: 35,000
Smithsonian Museum, Washington:
Contains 9 different museums and a
zoo. 135 million objects displayed. (It is estimated that to view all of
Smithsonian will take a few years)
The US library of Congress established
in 1800 has 160 million (16 crores) of books, manuscripts, maps and photographs
stacked on approximately 1340 KM of book
shelves, the distance between Chennai and Mumbai . (https://www.loc.gov/about/fascinating-facts/)
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg: Established in 1890, Area: 120
rooms, Objects displayed: 440,000.
National Museum, Delhi
was opened in 1949 and has 200,000 objects on display.
The National Library of India, Kolkata is the largest with 2.2 million books.
The concept
of museum is not limited to just exhibition of old sculptures and drawings, it
also substantially covers scientific and industrial development. The Natural
History Museum of Smithsonian contains 300,000 species of insects collected
from all over the world. India has 24 science museums, UK 52, Germany 16 and USA over 100.
Patience,
perseverance and mining for information are the three important factors for a
successful research. Analyses of the past leads to evaluate the
progress to the present which will in turn help plan the future. Museums and
libraries provide substantially for the above functions.
Conclusion:
Jack Welch, the CEO of
General Electric said “do not plan your future based on the past.” He was
partially correct, a bitter experience may discourage future ventures but it also
prevents repeat of same mistake.
People who think more
about future will have only dreams. Those who have looked back will be more
pragmatic and be able to develop the acumen for a promising and successful
future.
The planning chapter of
the modern management studies starts with “where we were, where we are now,
where we want to be in future and how to get there.” The same principle is to be adopted by a nation
and the first step is to understand “how and where it was?
It may be argued that
history study will revive the old and forgotten rivalries but in most cases the
educated and more civilised descendants of the rivals repent their ancestors’
mistakes.
European nations preserve the record of chronological events of their
past for the benefit of the future generations. Indian Newspapers carry a column called “Today
in history” where one can find mostly European
events which is due to their
documentation culture.
Unfortunately, Indians
are not only unaware of their past
history but also disinterested to know about it. We are
ignorant about our past therefore we are confused in the present and fear the
future.
The Indian education
should project history as an analysis of the past and not just an informative
study. A distorted or inadequately
projected history may affect the very character and psyche of the future
generation. There are controversies in
drafting the Indian history. The focus is more on the medieval and European era during
which we were subdued. The impact is the still prevailing docility among
Indians. Our contributions like Yoga,
Artha Sastra, astronomy and our millennium old cultural influence in the Far East
should be highlighted to infuse pride and confidence. Wealthy businessmen and politicians (!)
should come forward to establish
modern and large scale libraries
and science museums.
Dr. Krishnan Arunachalam.
Ref: Author’s
speech in Sankara Senior School, 2011
(published in Mylapore Club Magazine August 2015)
