LEARNING HISTORY IS RELEVANT!

"Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it." Edmund Burke

H is for History.

Some believe learning history in the fast-changing modern world is irrelevant. They opine that knowing the present itself is a challenge. It is fruitless to go back to the past. No, it is not so. In fact, past, present, and future are interlinked. There is no vacuum in the epochs of humanity’s progress and evolution. It is essential to be aware of history to understand the present.

The archives of world history enfold numerous eras representing their own specific cultures, beliefs, worldviews, and events. We find them chronicled in history books. In short, history is a saga of all that happened in the past. How families, communities, societies, and nations were formed. How people lived and carried on their daily activities. The knowledge of history is the foundation for further development of the human race.

History has recorded the holocausts, world wars and several harrowing tragedies, which added to the human misery to no end. How Hitler’s megalomania caused two World Wars and heaped untold sufferings on millions of people. These are painful blots on the face of humanity. They do make us pause and ponder.

However, for totalitarian political regimes, history is bunk, therefore it is distorted continuously. The word ‘history’ finds no mention in the public domain. The ruling oligarchy keeps an iron-like grip on people’s memories. By creating a chocking system, it keeps the citizenry on their tenterhooks 24x7. Hit by privations and state-organized hardships people have no time to go deep into finer aspects of human existence. The possibility of citizens creating turbulence in the seemingly stable functioning of the system is almost remote. There is ‘Thought Police’ to crush fatally any deviance. Here I feel like sharing a thought-provoking example.

‘NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR’(1984)  a novel by British author George Orwell published in 1949 warns against the insidious possibility of a world where history would be distorted to fit the controlling needs of the despotic system.

Courtesy Google.

Here I narrate an anecdote from the novel to make my point: News splashes on the TV screen. Weekly chocolate ration has been cut to half. By the evening, the news item not only disappears but also is washed clean. There is no proof that there was such an announcement because it is erased from all records. The people battered by shortages and rations hardly had the pluck to reason out such machinations. The move is meticulously planned and subtle.

Interestingly, after a few days, there is breaking news on state TV channels. The weekly chocolate ration has been increased followed by the canned enthusiastic uproar.  In reality, the increase is a pittance as compared to the original quantity. History is wiped out every day leaving the masses without any measure of comparison.

But history can be blatantly misused also. In modern times there is another danger looming large. Our likes, dislikes and other data are being codified to commodify   our very existence. Our online browsing history is tracked to influence our future decisions. The thinking process gets stunted. The originality of thought and choice loses its importance.

We should remember that history is a great teacher. By recounting our pitfalls and strengths over the ages, it warns us against the mistakes and blunders of the past. The knowledge should sensitize us against the devastating consequences of selfish and egotistic actions. Otherwise, our indifference to the significance of the past will give credence to the saying that, ‘history repeats itself.’ 

Leaders, administrators, politicians, and citizens: Be wise and be warned because we write our history every day!

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LIFE'S HERE AND THERE

Source: The Internet

'H' is for history:

For a couple of days, my weekly brainstorming session stared me in the face,   obviously chiding me for dilly dallying and wasting my time. Finally, the inner voice  brought me face to face with the computer and the blank page eyed me invitingly.The ice was broken.

The discourse again would be about some aspects of the incomparable canvas of our life. The way we balance it and direct it to follow the righteous path. Our experiences play an important part in this balancing act.

To achieve even some semblance of success in life, it is imperative to incorporate some order, discipline, and historical perspective to the scheme of things.

Order in life is no less  important than other essentials of life. A chaotic lifestyle is an open invitation to defeat and all sorts of complications. It takes its toll in creating grave problems in domestic and professional arena. In short, it may ruin your life. In this context, we may learn lessons from the impeccable calendar which nature follows. We’re so used to change in seasons, the spontaneity of sunrise and sunset and scores of other precise happenings that we hardly give a thought to the extraordinary discipline of the natural forces, which makes it possible.

Another significant angle to life is its surprise elements, good or bad. Like the sea, life has multiple frames to its credit. For instance, our bumpy journey here is comparable to the frightful shenanigans, which play on the sea surface. There are times when the seawaters are calm and serene and yet they uphold mysterious, awesome grandeur. Sometimes storms rage on its surface signaling anxiety, caution and patience. There are tense hours and often days of this scary phenomenon and then all of a sudden peace and calm returns and soon the event retreats from our consciousness. Our life is also like that. Amidst smugness of normalcy, sometimes, adversity hits us like a bolt from the blue, disrupt our daily lives, test our resilience, and disappear as rapidly. All of us have gone through such testing times in the course of our lifetime.

However, many times we’re so overwhelmed by the severity of unfavorable circumstances that nothing seems to allay our insecurities. It is here that the history comes to our aid to stabilize us. Remembering the horrendous past events and occurrences, how we triumphed over them with objectivity and strength, reassure us to keep going. In the beginning, though these looked daunting and insurmountable.

 History reminds us that we don’t live our lives in isolation. The present  is linked to the past as well  as to the future. History may go back to centuries, yet it sustains a permanent link to the present enabling us to learn lessons from the infinite records of man’s victories and defeats in figuring out the cosmos and its diverse elements.

 Likewise, religious books of all ages written by great scholars are treatises on how to lead our lives with propriety and   justness in our day-to-day dealings.

Life is sum total of frequent high and lows and it is man who gives it meaning by his actions. Its great challenge is to live it.

From TOI's 'SACRED SPACE': Meaning of life

"What is the meaning of life? Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning." Joseph Campbell

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H WORDS AS CONCEPTS

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Three short narratives.

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

 'H' is for hunger and more.

The word ‘hunger’ denotes a scourge, which has been raging unabated in some parts of the world for a long time. Isn’t it ironical and tragic that at many places, food is surplus and goes waste and at other places the starving millions can’t afford two square meals a day. It is in fact, happening due to utter disregard, apathy, maladministration, faulty distribution systems, inadequate storage facilities and egotistic attitude of the people at the helm of affairs. Quite a lot has been done by some rich counties to alleviate the hunger pangs of the people, affected by drought, floods, internal unrest, external warfare and old agricultural practices. However, long-term and drastic, remedial measures need to be put in place, as the problem is gigantic. Conversely, the hunger for equal opportunities, fair play, social justice, spirituality and modernity, still, is a distant dream for a large number of people in the world.

………

Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it. Edmund Burke

H is also for ‘history.’ The archives of world history enfold numerous eras representing their own specific cultures, worldviews and events. We find them chronicled in history books. In short, history is a saga of all that happened in the past. History has recorded the holocausts, world wars and several fabricated tragedies, which added to the human misery to no end. These are painful blots on the face of humanity. However, the tragedy for the human race is that, it neither pauses to ponder nor learns any lessons from the devastating mistakes of the world leaders of the past. No wonder, ‘history repeats itself.’  Moreover, we write our history every day.

“Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough: Give your best anyway.”
― Mother Teresa

'H' stands for the word ‘human’ too. Being human connotes the qualities of love, kindness, empathy and above all a desire to help others. It is said that if you want to be happy, then be a doer and bring some joy in other peoples' lives. Rightly opined, that what you give comes back to you with interest.

According to an old saying, ‘proper study of mankind is man.’ Man holds the pivotal position in ancient philosophical treatises. In the spiritual aspect of our life, the scriptures propound that ‘God made man in his own likeness.’ All this proves that man came into this world for a higher purpose. He is to be an instrument of justice, welfare driven social order, committed to peace and solidarity among all segments of society.  

However, unfortunately man has degenerated into a greedy, grasping, selfish creature. He has morphed into an insensitive, uncaring and narcissistic being.

If man wants to contribute to society, he has to be his own conscience keeper. 

Friends, welcome here as always.