Author: Francois Gautier
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 25, 2003
There is a growing need to rewrite
Indian history according to the latest linguistic and archaeological discoveries
if Indian children are to understand who they are and where they come from.
We now know that not only the foundations of Indian history were written
by European colonisers with an intention to downsize, downgrade and postdate
Indian civilisation, but that, unfortunately, generations of Marxist Indian
historians, for their own selfish purpose, endorsed and perpetuated these
wrong theories. Among these are the Aryan invasion theory which divided
India pitting the South against North, Aryan against Dravidian, and "Untouchables"
against Brahmins.
Not only that. These British and
Marxist historians - eager to give prominence to the Congress, which was
a British institution in the first place - robbed of their true place in
India's history, giants such as Sri Aurobindo, who - apart from being the
avatar of the supramental age - was the early prophet of Indian Independence
when all that the Indian National Congress wanted was a few crumbs from
the British. As a result, very few Indian children know about Sri Aurobindo
today. But now comes Professor Kittu Reddy and his book History of India:
A New Approach (Standard Publisher, New Delhi), which was released in February
2003. It addresses a grave lacuna in Indian historiography, and compels
us to take a second look at Indian history. It opens our eyes to incidents
we had totally ignored. These new facts are peppered with wonderful quotations
from Sri Aurobindo, which give an altogether new dimension to the book.
Professor Kittu Reddy was best equipped
for this task. He was born in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh
in 1936. His father, C Narayana Reddy, was one of the first MLCs when he
was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1924 as a member of the Swarajya
party. Professor Reddy is the nephew of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the former
President of India. At the young age of five, he was taken to Sri Aurobindo
Ashram, Pondicherry, by his parents. Brought up in the spiritual ambience
of the Ashram, he has lived there ever since. He had all his education
at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education from where he graduated
in 1957. In 1958, he started teaching at the same Centre, first at the
school level and later from 1971 at the college level. His subjects today
are The Foundations of Indian Culture, Political Science, Social Science,
and History. It must be mentioned that all these subjects are taught in
the light and vision of Sri Aurobindo.
In 1987, Professor Reddy came in
contact with the Indian Army and has since been giving talks to the Indian
Army on subjects like Indian culture, the Mission of India and Motivation
and Leadership. In 1994, at the request of General BC Joshi, who was then
Chief of Army Staff, Professor Reddy shifted to Delhi for two years to
help him in his work. He was appointed Adviser to the Army Welfare Education
Society. After the passing away of General Joshi, he worked closely with
General Shankar Roy Chowdury when he was the Chief of Army Staff. Since
then, he has been in close touch with the Armed forces and has conducted
workshops for the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. These
workshops deal with Motivation, Leadership, and the Indian nation. They
have been held both in Pondicherry at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and at training
centres of the Armed forces elsewhere.
Professor Reddy has also written
a book for the Indian Army, Bravest of the Brave, and a monograph Kargil:
The Manifestation of a Deeper Problem. Professor Reddy's brief is that
History, as it has generally been conceived and written in modern times,
has limited itself to the outer narration and interpretation of events
and has ignored the psychological forces and factors that affect human
life. This predominance of external events has been so great that most
modern historians and political thinkers have concluded that objective
necessities are bylaws. Nature, Professor Kittu Reddy implies, is the only
really determining force; all else is a result of superficial accidents
of these forces.
Scientific history has been conceived
as if it must be a record and appreciation of the environmental motives
of political action, of the play of economic forces and developments and
the course of institutional evolution. But man is essentially mental and
spiritual being, and to ignore these psychological factors would be to
miss out the very essence of human growth and evolution. Indian history
in particular loses all its true significance when looked from this purely
external viewpoint. For the Indian mind and temperament is naturally inward
looking.
And, indeed, this book is an attempt
to look at Indian history from the psychological and inner angle. It is
an attempt to place in proper perspective the deeper psychological and
spiritual elements even in the outer life of the Indian nation. As Sri
Aurobindo wrote: "All great awakenings in India, all her periods of mightiest
and most varied vigour, have drawn their vitality from the fountainheads
of some deep religious awakening. Wherever religious awakening has been
complete and grand, the national energy it has created has been gigantic
and puissant."
Professor Reddy's book, History
of India: A New Approach, begins with the pulsating spiritual happenings
in the Vedic and Upanishadic times, and traces the evolution of India to
the building of empires. It is followed by a description of the invasions,
both Muslim and English, and the psychological impact that these had on
the people of India. Next, there is a detailed description of the freedom
movement with special emphasis on the psychological forces that were in
play till the attainment of Independence in 1947. Finally, it concludes
with a vision for the future of India.
It is to be hoped that History of
India will give a greater insight and lead to a truer understanding of
Indian culture and civilisation. This book is particularly aimed at the
young - not only to those who are young in body but also in the heart.
Because, as Sri Aurobindo prophesied: "It is not till the Motherland reveals
herself to the eye of the mind as something more than a stretch of earth
or a mass of individuals, it is not till she takes shape as a great Divine
and Maternal Power in a form of beauty that can dominate the mind and seize
the heart, that these petty fears and hopes vanish in the all-absorbing
passion for the Mother and her service, and the patriotism that works miracles
and saves a doomed nation, is born...
"Once that vision has come to the
people, there can be no rest, no peace, no further slumber till the temple
has been made ready, the image installed and the sacrifice offered. A great
nation, which has had that vision, can never again bend its neck in subjection
to the yoke of a conqueror."
