Well lets put it this way, Europeans project their rich history well.
A visit to Prague put me into introspection. Prague has buildings that are well preserved since the 9th century. The guides here are proud and happy to show different buildings belonging to different centuries, and speak at length about the history of each building. It was beautiful and enthralling.
The guide pointed out to a Canadian tourist and said that Canada was only 300 years old and had a mighty laugh. Czech Republic was 1200 years old! She was only pulling this leg, she joked.
Whether it bothered him or no, it sure bothered me. India has a history that dates on record 5000 years...the Indus Valley civilisation existed right about then! We have so many different dynasties... the great ones being the Maurya dynasty, the Gupta dynasty, the Cholas, the Kakatiyas, the Yadavas, the Kalingas, the Marathas, the Moghul empire (it had its good moments), the Nizams...
Our history books although touch on all of them briefly, they mainly cover the Indian Freedom struggle against the British. The British rule was probably the darkest period in history and winning over them was glorious, but thats not what Indian history is all about!
Lets go back to the Czech again. Their dark periods mainly revolve around the Nazi invasion and the communist regime, but they don't talk only about it. They speak of numerous dynasties before them!
Isn't it time that we speak about and project the Indus Valley Ruins, the submerged Dwarka city off the coastline of Gujarat, the Rama Setu at Rameshwaram, the 1000 plus year old temples in Tamil Nadu, the forts of the Marathas, the Stupas, the Taj Mahal, the Golkonda fort, Daulatabad (which incidentally dates back to a 1000 years ago, as dreamt by Vijay, the hero of the book the Subconscious, The Hawa Mahal, the Red Fort?
I'm sure the individual state governments are doing some justice by promoting historic tours around these places. Is that enough? The History of ancient India has to be engraved in us. We need to feel proud of it. The National Tourism can sure get a boost, if it comes from within us.
The Subconscious covers a part of the Yadava dynasty in the thirteenth century.
