People least interested in history: Rues Public TV Chief H.R. Ranganath

Mysuru: “In the present day society, people are least interested in history and even finding scholars in the subject has become difficult,” regretted Public TV channel Chief H.R. Ranganath.

He was speaking after releasing the book ‘Ithihasada Nakshathragalu’ penned by retired professor Dr. A.V. Narasimhamurthy at a function organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), Bhavan’s Priyamvada Birla Institute of Management, Mysuru and Talukina Venkannaiah Smaraka Grantha Male at the BVB auditorium in Vijayanagar here yesterday.

A stage is reached when people ask what does reading present history mean? And the only way it is looked at is, what profit or benefit it brings to one. Hence, it is very difficult to find scholars or experts in the field of history who can come and debate on historical subjects with any authority. As a result we are forced to call people with half-baked knowledge of the subject, he said.

If one does not learn about history then future of a country cannot be built. If one sees the history of India from inside then one cannot fathom its importance. Instead if one goes outside the country and views it only then its significance can be understood, Ranganath said.

“As part of my profession, I have visited many countries. I have seen the interest people show about history even in the smallest of nations. In California University, I was surprised to see an 83-year-old working on her seventh Ph.D. However, we hardly see such instances in our country which is really a sad situation,” he said.

It is not very difficult to understand or learn history. History does not just mean about rulers, monarchs, soldiers or martyrs. Even recording ordinary people’s lives is history. Even in the media field majority show disinterestedness in history. The main reason for this is the view that there is no tangible or intangible benefit learning about history, he said.

“There is a one-sided history projected in the media. I always recall what my Editor YNK (Y. N. Krishnamurthy) used to say about history, ‘what is told in the news is a bit of history itself.’ However, being in the media when one does not understand basic history then it leads to a tough situation. In such a situation to publish a book on history is not an easy task,” said Ranganath.

Taking potshot at people who view history in a lighter vein, he said that this book opens eyes to those people who even without having knowledge of history try to show off that they know everything.

“If we imagine that the ruling government will prescribe such books as textbooks then it will be an illusion, because no government has such good motives. They are only interested in what benefits them and not what is useful to the society,” he rued.

The memorials that reflect history does not harm anyone, but vandalising them is nothing but treachery. Chamundi Hill was earlier called Mahabaleshwara Betta. Even though thousands of people visit the Hill, very few are aware of this part of the history. In spite of youth being immersed in smart phones and internet, they are least bit interested in understanding history by downloading information about it, he said.

“Even though I do not use any social media, I know about many things than those who extensively used social media. We should be slaves of knowledge and not of technological devices,” the speaker argued.

Star of Mysore and Mysooru Mithra Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy said, “When I was studying in college my history lecturer Muthuswamy used to say, ‘History is past politics; and politics present history.’ This is a maxim attributed to Sir John Robert Seeley which still rings in my mind and this is exactly the situation we are in today. We must be aware of the way history should be interpreted. There are people who distort history and write. But Dr. A.V. Narasimhamurthy is one historian who records true history.”

Author Dr. Narasimhamurthy, who also spoke said, “Ranganath in his TV channel has expressed the view that India should not play against Pakistan in the World Cup Cricket following the Pulwama attack on CRPF Jawans who were martyred. Mother and motherland are more important than even heaven. K.B. Ganapathy has shown his large-heartedness by publishing my column in both the newspapers. The study of history is as vast as the sky. Even though one can distort history, history itself tells only the truth.”

BVB Bengaluru Chairman N. Ramanuja said, “The book ‘Ithihasa mattu Samskrithi’ has been digitalised by BVB. It is also being brought out in pen drive format. This is in English language and has 15,000 pages. In Kannada language it runs to 25,000 pages. One can put the pen drive in the pocket and read it anywhere in the world.”

Dr. N. S. Taranath, retired Professor, spoke about the book. Talukina Venkannaiah Smaraka Grantha Male Publisher T.S. Chayapathy, former Corporator S. Balasubramaniam (Snake Shyam), BVB Mysuru Treasurer Dr. A.T. Bhashyam, students and others were present.