FROM “set of lies agreed upon” to “...written by victors,” History often finds itself denounced for inglorious ‘tilt.’ It was meant to connect the presentwith thepastjoiningdotsso that thechainof events, its causes and implications could be understood. Knowledge gained thus could have lit the path of the presentso thatitcouldhaveseen fartherinto the future. Alas, history’s ‘inglorious tilt!’ This near-fatal flaw is the result of it being chiselled by human hands. These hands are often led by minds that dwell in the comfort of‘your truth’ and‘my truth,’ rather than the often unsavoury ‘TheTruth’. Poor dear History! It has often seen court poets become historians and many a historian becoming court poets. Not its fault though. Its job is just to bring the past to light. It can hardly do anything about where falls the human spotlight. Humans can’t be completely blamed either. After their upgradation as social animals, their socialisation required certain decorum.

 

They became‘...Yours truly.’ Such a social arrangement hardly allows ‘The Truth’ to prevail.Whennotdownright abhorrent,itisinconvenient. So, in the ‘Yours’ truly’ human hands, the tilt of history was inevitable. As it meandered down human existence (and arguablyhumanwisdom) to arrive till our present modernage,thetiltisstillitsmost debated nuisance. Some might say it has only strengthened in our times. I say, let history be the judge of it. “History be the judge?What of the tilt,” you may ask. Well, luckily for us the criss cross lanes of ‘your truths’ and ‘my truths’ have some truth to it. Historians - the true-blue ones - say you may get some of ‘The Truth’ in these bunches of truths. What is required is just a little developed human mind which candecipherbetween verymany truths.Andright there my hopes end! Developed human mind will require calm contemplation after assimilation and analysis of the information. Our blood boils, palpitation increases, breath fastens and emotions sweep through the entire being as we parrot histories penned by court poets. Recently,Imet a group of students who expressed their utter disgust at being taught one set of histories and not the other one.

 

“We were never told about... blah, blah, blah, blah...!” My parrot mind did sympathise with them beforeIthrew a glance at the shelf of books. There, staring back at me was this book of history. (Perhaps written by a historian thick-skinned enough never to become yours truly.)It called me out. “I am sitting here untouched. Tell them to visit me oncebeforecryinghoarse.Not taught this…Not taught that… Look here, I am sitting quietly in this library. How many took the trouble to educate themselves? All they need is to visit me but no, they would rather read WhatsApp forwards and decide who was right and who was wrong. Then they fight with friends and burn the town down. All on the basis of half-baked knowledge!” “Calm down,” I said, “Their sentiments are hurt.” “Sentiments!!!” “Do not your schools tell them that the first requirement for pursuit of knowledge is to keep sentiments aside and open books with an open mind?” Open mind, the History book told me, was the prerequisite for any knowledge. It showed me how good historians picked ‘The Truth’ among the variety of truths, how they deciphered information, tested their veracity and presented it most humbly, always leaving a door open for modification. “For who knows, what skeleton may tumble out in this business of digging graves?”

 

“Let those who speak history be first taught how to read history.Itis not about hearing something, assigningasentiment toitand thencherry-pickinghappenings so as to bolster those sentiments. I see people easily taking things out of context to present that as only truth. They come to a conclusion first and then do the research – half hearted, half baked, to drive all truths to the same conclusion! Who taught them to manhandle history thus?” The book of history cried. For a book of knowledge, it seemed to hurt, too outraged. “So, tell me how do you want them to look at history,” I asked. “In full,” it cried in exasperation. “I know for a book of knowledge I seem too aggressive. But I am aggrieved. Tellmewhichothersubject of knowledge has been so badly treated by humans? MayIremind you humans ofwhatyour fellowphilosopherGeorgeSantayanahad said, ‘Those who cannot remember the past (correctlyifImay add) are condemned to repeat it.’ Now, look where you stand. So far, far away from peace and true prosperity! You could have used your pool of knowledge about your past and stop repeating mistakes.ButOh, youbickering humans can never rise about your pettiness!” “May be the historians did not dojustice toyou.

 

They turnedleft and right from the truth. And another bunch of humans learnt it from them,”Itried to reason out orrather parrot the arguments I had been listening against historians. “Oh really. Those who have served me have also derivedmethodologies to arrive atconclusions regarding situations of historical importance. They have raised me to the level of science.Ican understand disagreement over content, but not disrespect. Can you please stop the name-calling. History no more looks like the legacy of a gone-by age. Rather a sword with which you can wreak mayhem. Stop Please!” “So, what do you want us to do?” “Read. Read well. And be humble while you read. Open that clogged mind of yours. Shun your lefts and rights.

 

I am not just a story of the past. I am the wisdom of ages. I can tell you how ordinary people with extraordinary resolve and far-sightedness,did extraordinary things to drive your collective lot to a place which even the angels could only dream off. Be grateful. Learnhumility.Be astudentbefore declaringyourself a scholar,” it said before shutting itself again in the confines of the book shelf. I felt my heart too full to assimilate the conversation.Gradually, Irecalledmy school history textbooks, my own learnings of history and the noise around. Like all legacies, people treat history asameans to serve their own end. But history is that grandfather whose wisdom carries much more wealth than what he bequeaths. Need is to become that loving grandchild who can sit by his side and hear its stories, with no presuppositions. PS: Hours passed as I sat contemplating the fate of humanity with such disregard to‘TheTruth.’ Students kept arguing about the right and the left of events. But nobody walked up to the book of history, picked it up and sat quietly reading. ■