Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Whose history is it anyways - 3

"History should be written as philosophy."
—Voltaire (French 1694-1778)
Word for the day
Clandestine (adj)
Characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious:
Malice towards none
Should we assume that Jadeja is now a "test only" player!!
First random thought this morning
It is commonly said that if you want to understand the immediate concerns of a society, you should watch most popular cinema and TV news. Going by this adage, I find the following as most pressing problems of Indian society this morning:
Rohingya refugees; Honeypreet Singh; Safety of school kids; ceasefire violation by Pak; Petrol prices; erectile dysfunction; open defecation.

Whose history is it anyways - 3

It is frustration over steep degeneration of traditional Indian culture and values.
Any politician or social worker who has at least one of his feet on ground fully realizes that the data revolution created through advancements in the telecommunication sector is being used significantly for frivolities (mostly gossip and pornography) besides of course enhancing productivity.
It is a deep running desire to restore ancient Vedic culture in order to establish India as global superpower - economic, cultural, and strategic.
The unfortunate part is that those desiring restoration of Vedic culture suffer from ignorance and deep prejudices. They desire to downsize local Muslim populace, while keeping all the discrepancies (for lack of a proper word) that crept in the Vedic traditions during past 1200years of Islamic influence. Unequal place for women is widely noted as one such discrepancy.
The CM and Deputy CM of the largest state in the country, which has benefitted the most from the Mughal rule, saying that Mughals plundered India, raises serious questions. These assertions diminish our faith in the capability of the government to implement a sustainable development agenda. These also make us skeptical about law and order conditions.
For records, as per my understanding of history, all Mughal rulers after Humayun, were born and brought up in India. They lived, married, ruled and died in India. Almost all of them were of mixed race (Mughal and Rajput). After Maurayans, Akbar was the first ruler to unify India as a political entity. During 1500-1700AD, when Mughals ruled India, India's share of global GDP rose from 22% to over 24%. The first industrial revolution in India happened during Mughal rule, when Indian textile, leather and shipping industry flourished to become the leader in the world. Mughals invested heavily in infrastructure especially roads and unbranization. Our traders (mostly Hindus), riding on Mughal ships and horses travelled to the global markets, sold their produce for gold. That is how India became the Bird of Gold, given that we were never a significant producer of gold.
Influenced by the dialogues of 1960 Hindi movie Mughal-E-Azam, some leaders have tried to connect Mughal rulers of India with Turco-Mongol invaders Ghenghis Khan and Timur. I can guarantee it would take them at least 6months, if not more, to establish connection between Ghenghis Khan and Babur (who laid the foundation of Mughal rule in India), without using the internet. (see here and here)
My travels across the country in past three decades have told me that India is changing fast, but not necessarily in the direction many of us would desire. Not focusing on the direction of change could nullify the impact of the change itself, in my view......to continue
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