love of history

This started as a conversation…and became a mail...and finally ended up being a post. I find it fascinating to see that I never exactly know what's going to happen with an idea or a thought…some choose the safe secret corners of your mind; These you visit alone...look at them…turn them over and they never get to see the sunshine of discussion. And some ideas like monsoons pay you regular visits…making your mind fertile…and some you display them like trophies...talk about them endlessly and they grace many a tea time…some thoughts hold your hand and take you on lazy strolls amidst unknown places inside your head…and some are such a tour de force that they end up changing who you are as a person!

Anyways…what I wanted to write about was my love for history. Back in school when it was fashionable to like Science and Maths...I was charmed by the magic of history and English.

What most people fail to see is that history is all encompassing. When Graham bell was working it was cutting edge technology...now its quaint story in the pages of history. When Copernicus was studying planets and their orbits...it was astronomy...now it’s a tale history tells us of the infinite power of the human mind.

Most people think of history as a collection of facts and dates. History is a story of people…who they are and what made them that way. For the scientific minded, it’s the most fascinating study of psychology. And for those of us who are romantic it’s a tale of the eternal human traits-courage, glory, avarice, vice, virtue, ego, love and sheer stupidity.

A book like “Da Vinci Code” fascinates us but what we fail to perceive is that book is mostly history but told in a way which doesn’t make it school-bookish. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that history is not exactly what we read in school books. Half of the interesting movies made today are stories borrowed from the pages of history.

Have you ever thought what blind passion made people venture out in wild seas on sail boats? You would say greed…but would greed propel me and you to go on a voyage on perilous quests? Think of the Arabs who traveled along the spice route to bring fragrant spices to the bland palette of European countries…What started the Renaissance period and how Italy became the home of culture and science? The human greed which led to two world wars, slavery and colonization or the sharp intellect which understood the mechanics of the universe!

During the second world war, when the Vatican chose to ignore the horrors being committed by Nazis it was a small group of clergymen who saved hundreds of Jews; It was not great statesmen who saved lives but railway men who risked everything to add momentum to the French resistance. Many of those brave souls died in oblivion...they were not after glory…they just wanted to do the right thing...fight for what they thought was theirs.

And India being one of the oldest civilizations…holds her in her heart tales of mysteries past...and if you would only listen, she will tell you fascinating stories… Of the times when Rishis wrote the Vedas, Buddhists monks who painted the walls of Ajanta caves, of kings who built temple complexes or immortalized their love in a tomb of white!

What was it that after enduring 300 years of dominance her children stood and heard the cries of a frail bald man!

Kalidasa, Shakespeare, Dante, Da Vinci, Firdousi, Ghalib and many others are intimate friends with us since they colored many pages of history with their enchanting words.

I can write about history till I run out of words and still not have said all I wanted to…but then one realizes when one loves something…one can never say enough!