The Lore about the Days of Yore

Culture keeps us rooted to our heritage. Heritage helps us reminisce our history. History teaches us great lessons from the past. And without the knowledge of the past, it is impossible for us to move towards the future.

It is history that tells us of our origins, how family structure and society developed in the ancient civilisations; prevents us from making the same mistakes again, how the world wars obliterated a whole generation so that the humankind doesn’t face the same crisis again and quenches our thirst for countless answers; of how the present came into existence. We don’t realise how our everyday life is directly or indirectly connected to our past generations, how the modern day homo sapiens evolved from the early man of the stone-age with a strong body, to a man with a sharp mind.

Mankind is like a tree, whose history like roots, is buried deep into the earth, anchoring and strengthening it from within. While the growing branches are like the future, fresh and fragile, unable to thrive without the embedded support.

In this fast-moving world, with the advent of the Computer Age, Generation Z deem the future alone to be of enough significance for their attention. They abhor history and find it absolutely redundant. They believe in the notion of ‘let bygones be bygones’ and reflecting on one’s heritage is futile. Everyone today has been blinded by a race towards modernization because of which they have completely forgotten about their culture and heritage. But what they fail to realise is that everything that is going to happen is a cause of everything that has already happened.

Until a few years back, I had the same conjectures about history. It wasn’t before the summer of my 13th year, that I realised how fascinating are the times gone by. It was a trip to Florence that left me completely awestruck. The marvel of the beautiful palaces and piazzas of Florence transformed my perceptions about our past.  For me, it was the architecture that brought me closer to our heritage, but it could be anything from music to dances, from books to paintings that could trigger one’s affinity for culture.

To make history relatable for the children, ‘Family History Day’ must be celebrated once a year so that they can learn about their family’s legacy, with the help of group discussions in the family on the same, later they must share their family past with their peers and teachers in school. Educational trips must be organised by the schools to cultivate a student’s interest in culture. This can also be done by planning ‘Culture Fests’ once a year where the students can exhibit the favourite aspect about their culture. Smalls skits and musicals can also leave a deep impact on a child’s psyche. Competitions must be held where the children get to boast their knowledge about history.

These activities will not only reconnect the children with their roots but also help foster unity among the masses. The upcoming generations must be brought up in a way that they appreciate the history of the family, the nation and the world on the whole. So that they can further deliver the same to the younger generations and this cycle must go on for history and culture to endure the test of time.

– Sananshi Pidyar