Mystory

The clinking sound of footsteps on the iron staircase echoed in my ears, but the sound of my excitement persisted. Those eager murmurs on the first day of third grade made it even louder. A new class, new teacher, new friends, and most importantly, new subjects! Third grade was the first year we got to study History & Civics and Geography.

Before third grade, history had been all about watching TV shows about Jhansi ki Rani or Chandragupta Maurya, with the extravagant sets, sharp swords, powerful dialogues and glorious fights. And the whole idea of studying more about these legends made me very enthusiastic. I knew I wouldn’t just read about them, but my imagination would take me to them, sometimes clad in the same saree as Lakshmibai, other times as Queen Victoria perhaps.

Miss Kelkar walked into the class. Her jet black, long hair was tied elegantly into a lot plait. Her simple blue and purple salwar-kameez complemented her deep brown eyes and little black bindi perfectly. She came in, introduced herself, and told us to remove our history textbooks. I opened my textbook to the first chapter, and it was called ‘What is history?’. We learned basic terms like historian, archaeologist, inscriptions, emperors, etc. And then began a journey back in time, a journey to the past, which I live in the present.

I travelled to so many lands in that one year. Colonial India, Ashoka’s peaceful empire, Shah Jahan’s , stunning Taj Mahal site, all were covered in one year itself. 

Further, I came a veteran traveller to the lands of the past. I bathed in the Great Bath, sat in Tutankhamun’s court, traded along the Silk Route, and even saw the Code of Hammurabi right before my eyes. I attended a session in the diwan-e-aam, walked in the Dandi March with Gandhi, heard Nehru’s Tryst with destiny and even saw the bloody partition of my nation.

I have come a long way from words like historian, archaeologist, inscriptions and emperors. Words such as power, perspective, revolution and society have become a more significant part of history for me.

History evolves. Just like we all do. History also has a future. A future of the past, a future of the rich customs, traditions and culture of the past. We need to revive that past. We need to learn from it. We need to put it into current perspective to understand contemporary issues. The true essence of history isn’t the extravagant palaces or fancy costumes of the past. It is the rather lessons. Lessons from past mistakes, from the rich societies of the past, from how we have become who we are today. History teaches us why some are rich, some poor, some unequally treated and some specially treated. Once we understand the ‘why’, we need to look for the ‘how’ and identify solutions to solve such loopholes in the society. Not just the Indian society, but each and every society in the world faces some or the other social, political or economic issue. I want to study history as a solution, as a source which explains the root cause of the issue.

I want to read the story of the dead and derive morals for the living.