The Lesson from History

 

Inspiration taken by excerpts from 'Glimpses of World History' by Jawaharlal Nehru.

History is one connected whole and you cannot understand it at large by just focusing on one country's past.

One must look at the rest of the world as well as it's all intertwined and dependent on each other.

There is not much difference than we seem to imagine beyond borders and flags of nations. Somewhere our paths meet. Maps and atlases may seem like our world stands cut and clearly divided. 

Undoubtedly on the face of things, difference in culture and language do exist. But we resemble each other a great deal. One must not be misled by the narrow mindedness of national borders.

The study of history must teach a person about how we have slowly progressed. We as beings of this land rose the food chain like dictators of a banana republic.

Our mental cognitive development and social sectors set us apart from our primates and the rest of the animal kingdom. 

Man, by his intellect alone triumphed over the others. Man's evolution from barbarian ways to civilisation is a central theme of our history.

Cooperation and working together have brought about ideals and advanced civilisation if one were to look back on stretches history. We may feel the past was far more perfect than the present. In fact we were far more civilised and cultured in retrospect, which would make us wonder if we are going forward or backwards. 

Every country has its own brilliant periods, far better than our present.

The brilliant periods of India, Egypt, Greece, China and countries across the globe have seen their glory days. Only to have relapsed back into the dark ages. 

The world is a big place and the rise and fall of any country for a while may not make much of a larger difference.

Many would boast of a nations past and it's accomplishments. But those who boast are seldom great.

Its important to remember in many ways man has not made any great progress in comparison to other animals. In some certain ways animals are more superior to us. Take White Ants for example. Their sense of community and sacrifice for the greater good is something lacking in every corner of the world.

Mutual sacrifice and cooperation for the good of society are the real tests of civilisation.

There's a Sanskrit verse translated as follows,  

"For the family sacrifice the individual, for the community the family, for the country the community and for the Soul the whole world."

What a soul may be, our definitions may differ. But we in India today have forgotten this virtue, the sacrifice for greater good. The true sovereign path to real greatness is this. Not respecting this path has made us fall in our own eyes, drowned in the laurels of our past accomplishments.

We are far past the freedom struggle, where the generations of youth fought for a united country. Smiling on the streets of protest, serving a greater cause. But an even greater struggle has been set in our sights after the stroke of a midnight hour, the cause of humanity itself.

One must understand through this eternal moral that history imparts. The struggle and misery allows us to rejoice in the contribution of our world.

The wheel of change and time will move along, those who were down go up and those who were up go down. 

It must move a nation like ours to a future worth living for.