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Our History, Their History: The Contrasting Historical Narratives of East and West
Cheema’s second book provides the perfect answers to the above question and more. It is a virtual encyclopaedia of facts about the western and eastern world. The West encompasses the whole of Europe, including America and the East relates to Asia but the thrust of the work is on India. The compass is wide, the depth of the research scholarly. From tracing the trajectory and growth of the Roman empire to the settlements of Gangetic plains, the work travels through centuries to touch events on both sides in the twentieth century also. The text is engaging with small titbits added for voyeuristic interest, but the facts have been researched and well presented, there are no loose ends. It is also well edited and in less than 250 pages a lot of ground is covered. From discovering different concepts of monarchy, to growth of state systems, position of women, condition of peasantry, agrarian relationships, reasons for wars, the place of religion in states to the concept of nationalism, language as a tool for superiority, a variety of topics have been covered. The difference in the position of nobility and the psychology of war crimes have all been compared and analysed. Though the study is an attempt to identify the factors which are responsible for the differences between the two most important axis on which the world rests, it goes beyond superficiality of race and colour. The constant comparisons between them (western world) and us (easterners) finds resonance and answers. Why do their systems work and why are ours are floundering? Why do we lack respect for the rule of the people, by the people, and why is that we have more fundamentalism? Why is it our society less egalitarian? Why is the position of women so subservient? Some troublesome persistent questions have been logically answered, the power paradigm might have shifted from the absolute monarchy of the Mughals to democracy in India, but we still have had (for the larger part) one-family ‘raj’. The right of property was not fundamental to India as it was to Europe, that is why we still are working at the right to land for different sections of society, Naxalism being an offshoot of this problem. Religion and politics have had a troubled relationship with tremendous repercussions for states. While in the West, both the church and the state have learnt to have separate spheres of influence and keep a check on each other’s authority, in the East the relationship never evolved because it depended on who was mightier at the time. That is why we are still in the throes of a tug of war between the state and religion and the outcome is the growth of fundamentalism and communalism. Cheema has also come up with some interesting theories, to the oft-repeated diatribe of the imperialists that India was not a nation state and that is why the feeling of nationalism is missing. In his opinion, in fact it was Europe where till the early 20th century, kings and princes were above nationality. In the 19th century, every ruling dynasty including Russia had a German on the throne, while in India there has always existed an emotive link from time immemorial with "Bharatvarsh Mahaan". What differentiates Indian nationalism is that it is more accommodative and inclusive. Another important revelation is while we take our diversity for granted, European psychology abhors diversity. For them, everything has to be standardised. All these differences in the West have worked in its favour, whether they are wars: Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq or Afghanistan, cultural domination, neo colonialism, the reason behind it is to prove their superiority. Our History, Their History is a fascinating study which takes you back in time to discover your present, celebrates differences of civilisation. It is gripping, interesting and a labour of love. In spite of being a career bureaucrat and not a professional historian, both the author’s books would any day assure him a place as a readable historian.
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The
real value addition of history is not to know the tales or narratives of
bygone times but to be able to understand the present by the study of
the past. It is not only about the names of kings, eventful dates, but
more importantly, about every aspect of evolution of life and
civilisation. The knowledge of the subject is also about answering
vexatious questions of why we are what we are? Why do societies in
different parts of the world behave differently for the same incident?