Scene: 1
9000 miles away from the Himalayan country. Far to the west. Silicon valley. A refreshing evening at Microsoft office. An Indian software engineer enjoys his first team dinner with his American colleagues. Suddenly when a discussion on cultural identities strikes, the Indian strongly claims, “I’m PROUD to be an INDIAN!” A white guy sitting opposite, quickly asks, “I’ve heard that the Indus Valley Civilization had sophisticated cities 4,500 years ago! Do you know more about that? Can you share with us…?” Before he could complete, a British teammate interrupts, “I’ve heard from my father that the Chola Kings had such a vast empire that even includes today’s Indonesia and Malaysia! Can you tell us more about that please…?” The interested and earnest eyes stare at the Indian with so much expectation. But the “Proud” Indian software engineer has no clue what they are talking about. He blinks. He has no answer. He murmurs with embarrassment- “Sorry, I don’t know”.
Scene: 2
9000 miles away from the Pacific. Far to the east. Bay of Bengal coast. A humid and scorching mid-week afternoon at Chennai city. An uncontrollable crowd fills the neighborhood. Amidst this is a cinema theatre whose façade is totally covered with huge movie hoardings. Two young high school guys come out of the theater with so much pride, after watching ‘Endhiran, The Robot’ movie the third time. As soon as they get past the crowd, they rush to a nearby shop to watch a cricket match between India and Pakistan. It's nerve-racking, well enough to shoot up their blood pressure to its abnormal levels. Patriotism sees its height in the hearts of those young guys. It’s the final over and the match ends with a sensation - India wins. There is a mad rush of adrenaline. One of them leaps high in the air and shouts, “INDIA ..INDIA ..INDIA !!!” The other one says with exuding pride, “I’m PROUD to be an INDIAN!”. On the way back home, one of them says, “the afternoon was very nicely spent!” The other one quips, “Of course! Who would attend a long, dreary session on ‘Indian Freedom Struggle’?! What a bore!” Yes, their afternoon was earned by bunking off their history class at school. While they walked back home, they continued reviewing ‘Enthiran, The Robot’ movie.
What is the inference that stands out clear as a crystal here? We, today’s Indians, SPEAK-OUT-LOUD to be 'Indian', but don’t really know anything about its proud, long history. However, we love watching movies a lot, and we are patriotic at least when it comes to cricket! The bottom-line is that history, patriotism and knowledge can be fed to today’s Indians only in a “delicious version”- mixed with honey – set in the right tenor- and pampered with the most fashionable format of the day!
That happens to be one of the primary missions of the Enlightened Niche. As a first step, “Indian history in 5 minutes” video has been created. As a first step to be a “Proud” Indian, why don’t you know India’s history today?
Share the history with the world!
