The Age of Kali – William Dalrymple
One more stunning revelation of untold stories including the atrocitites unleashed by Indian Army on Hyderabadi Muslims and how Nehru and Patel hushed it up from International conscience. If you think about it, stitching together an India which was non – existent was no small task and may resemble the stories from many other parts of the world, however was it worth the cruetly the inhabitants of the country had to face from an organised military of the same country? No history books in Indian curriculum is taught about these shortcomings of great leaders of India in their quest to make unified India a reality. Children are taught about unity in diversity - Diversity there is , Unity simply does not exist, todays india is only 62 years old, the rich and varied history dates back thousands of years and there rituals like that of Madurai Meenakshi temple carried out for thousands of years without change in a single detail. Amidst all the invasions of modernity you can see people with modern educations and standing like software engineers, writers, diplomats flock to these ancient traditions. Indian psyche’s emphasis on faith is astonishing and that faith is a trust on the cosmic force and the sense of belonging to that force. For many Indians the innate calmness is from the awareness that “it is written”, from being able to identify with centuries of history and future and realising the momentary nature of one’s existence, yet contributing in whatever shape or form for the eternal good all beings and non-beings.
