You know, history, as we study in school text books, could have been a dazzling subject… only if the people who wrote these textbooks had the wits and brains to not cocoon the chapters to the kings who ruled this country and the companies that ruined it. Are you with us on that? If yes, then this feature will make your day!
Do you know about the Seven Sister states of India? Can you name them without ‘Googling’? Do you know that there are four different states with four different languages that make up the south of India? And, that the people living there are surely different from each other? Unlike what we are made to believe often during our nascent years, that, every one down south is a 'Madrasi,' and everyone North up is a Punjabi.
These stereotypes wouldn’t have existed if we would have got our history (and even Geography) right, if we would have been told that India is not just Cholas, Guptas, Mauryas and Mughals, or about Patliputra, Kalinga, Indraprastha and Haldighati.
So why such thoughts are knocking on our mind suddenly? We have not been hit by our conscience, but by a letter written by 12-year-old girl from Assam. In a letter written to the Prime Minister of India, Aaira Goswami expresses her grief over the fact that how we know all about the Mauryans, Guptas, Mughals but very little about "the Ahoms or Lachit Borphukon who ruled Assam for 600 years defeating Mughals 17 times in a battle."
She further elaborates on how there is very little or rather nothing at all written about the seven sisters of India. She laments how many students do not even know what the seven sisters are. "If I could just read about my state, Assam, and Northeast in my book it would be like a dream come true. Besides all Indian children need to know Assam and the Northeast’s glorious history," she says in her letter with the hope that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi would do something about including the history of Northeast in the textbooks.
Here is the letter that she wrote to the PM
To
Shri Narendra Modiji
The Honourable Prime Minister of India,
Jaipur
11th Feb 2017
Honourable Prime Minister of India,
My name is Aaira Goswami. I am 12 years old. I am from Assam. I currently stay in Jaipur. I study in Neerja Modi School. Today I wanted to tell you about something that I have been thinking about for quite a while. My favourite subject is history, unlike other students. Yet I don’t know the history of my own state! I know a lot about the Mauryans, the Mughals and the Guptas. I have even written exams on these emperors. But I know very little about Lachit Borphukon and the Ahoms who ruled Assam for 600 years defeating the Mughals 17 times soundly in battle. I know the history of almost whole of India; from Jammu & Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from Mughals to the British, from Rajasthan to Kolkata. But where is the long lost glory of the seven sisters. Some students don’t even know what the seven sisters are. It is very difficult to find things about the Northeast in my books. If I could just read about my state, Assam, and Northeast in my book it would be like a dream come true. Besides all Indian children need to know Assam and the Northeast’s glorious history. If you could do something to ensure that Assam and the Northeast’s history is included in our books and also reply to this letter from a little Indian citizen, I would be very thankful.
Yours sincerely
Aaira Goswami
VI-E
Neerja Modi School
Jaipur, Rajasthan
(Source: thenortheasttoday)
Being a subject that literally shapes our thought process towards past and present, we ought to know more than just the battles, assasinations, and conquerors of India. But how?
"Let's not restrict the child to plain textbooks. History should be taught as a process in which while the child reads a book, he is able to critically examine the situation or the motif behind those moves. There is no doubt that history will be 'changed' or 'retold' according to the ruling ideologies, but teachers can very well lay down the facts in front of students and let them analyse it however they wish to. Don't try to fix history, it will become a challenge"
Political commentator Sadanand Menon.
Come to think of it, if we cannot get the basics right, how are we supposed to comment or analyse? Remember, when Amitabh Bachchan got Mary Kom's state wrong in a tweet? The tweet was meant to praise her for her winning match, but it became a faux pas moment for him when he got her state wrong as Assam instead of Manipur. The social media got so irked by Mr Bachchan's lack of knowledge that he was forced to apologise later in another tweet.