Overhauling Cultural Amnesia: Rebuild the Empires Within

Reprogramming psychological inheritance of colonised minds

 What does it mean to be free? Not free in the way history books tell it, not the freedom of flags raised and anthems sung, not the freedom of borders drawn and treaties signed. I speak of freedom, a deeper one—the freedom of mind. And I ask you, ARE WE TRULY FREE?

For centuries, outsiders came to our land with their ships and swords, with their guns and laws; they took our riches, reshaped our cities, left scars upon the earth. But what they truly sought was something far greater, something more enduring (Than any relationship in Hauz Khas, lol)—the mastery over our minds. And that, I fear, they have not fully relinquished. Yes, the Brits left a long ago. But did they really?

Look around you. The language in which I speak, the very words that shape my thoughts, the structures that dictate our knowledge, our success, our aspirations—do they not still bear the imprint of their makers? (I am pretty sure everyone of you considers Winston Churchill as great leader, but HATE Adolf Hitler, but what they both truly did was genocide!). This, my friend, is the true colonisation. (Not of land, but of self) And here we are, a proud civilisation of over a billion people, still confused about whether to say “Hello” or “Namaste” when answering the phone. 

Man who smoked around 4 million Indians, and his cigar!

I mean, here’s a quick reflection: Why is that when an Indian speaks perfect English, we say, “Oh, he must have had his education abroad” but when a French guy speaks English like they’re choking on croissant, we say, “My god, how exotic!” Now, you see, they made us further believe that sophistication comes with British accent. That wisdom can only be found when you speak without pronouncing the ‘Ts’, or if you read Western books. That if something wasn’t approved by some guy named Lord Macaulay, it’s probably useless. And you know what’s worse? WE FELL FOR IT.

And history—ahh, don’t get me started on history. According to British textbooks, before they arrived, we were just a bunch of snake-charmers and people who worshipped stones & beasts, waiting for Queen Victoria to civilise us. Really? REALLY? When Henry VIII was busy changing his wives, India witnessed Maharana Pratap. His legendary horse, Chetak, is very well enough to rebut their narratives. How did all this happen then? You see, the educational institutions established by the British were the primary channels through which this colonisation of mind was orchestrated. The curriculum, designed to produce clerks and administrators who could serve the colonial administration, did not merely impart technical skills; it also reoriented the way knowledge was understood (Mind you, this is very important to understand). The classical texts of Sanskrit literature, the epic narratives of Mahabharata and Ramayana, were either dismissed as relics of a bygone era or reinterpreted through the lens of Western historical criticism. The consequence was a gradual erosion of indigenous intellectual framework (Sam Pitroda, probably?). It was a devaluation of one’s own cultural heritage that slowly permeated through the classes of society, as evidently dictated by various left-wing historians.

I will now tell you my favourite colonised mindset; our obsession with foreign approval (Sorry V-dem or Freedom house, whosoever it may concern, it’s not going to work this time). If a scientist invents something in India, he would be just mentally unstable for people who was productive for a while (This is for a scientist! Ohh lord, spare my guy Rahul Gandhi from Indian insults) But if we find someone who is not a citizen of India, but is of Indian origin, and that person does something, the comment section is flooded with “Pride of India! India’s Genius!” I want to ask such people if their brain is run by foreign visa. Was it not working properly until they got a visa? Another thing about the same, and this is what I encounter the most. The most! Let’s take a simple situation: You go to a decent restaurant, and they give you fork and knives with your biryani and tandoori chicken—what do you do?

1.      Use fork and knife, struggling like and idiot (I can only imagine the bite this would give, rofl)

2.      Eat with your hands like a normal human being (You just won’t)

3.      Look around first to make sure no ghosts are watching, then eat with your hands. (Yes, the best practicable option)

If you answered (3), congratulations! You are officially 50% decolonised! If it’s (1), I’m sorry boss, I wasn’t familiar with your game (You Slayyy!) People with (2), massive respect.

But I would always argue that the colonisation of mind started way earlier, even before the expeditions of East India Company. It was the Delhi Sultanate and the nasty, brutish barbarians that ruled after. Men of Timurid and Mongol blood, who are called as “Martyrs” by Uddhav Thackeray, the Mughals! Aurangzeb literally ruled with resolute fanaticism, and still, is somehow posed relevant by many radical elements in society including the learned ones, too. This is true colonisation of mind!

Benchmark for modern-day Timurid filth in India

They defend his cruelty under the umbrella of architecture (If anything, I think their ability to misunderstand things is a work of art), rapes and pillaging by arguing that he brought jalebi, gulab jamun, samosa to the dinner tables. Making sense of their defence is like eating dal with chopsticks (Also, if a Brit pronounces it as ‘dalll’, people would say “How Impressive!” Even if he butchers the word like EIC butchered India’s economy then) Jokes aside, how is a tyrant like Aurang still relevant even today? It’s like a Jew living in Germany saying Hitler was a misunderstood leader (According to them, he only asked for a ‘glass of juice’ but they heard “Gas the jews!”) Aurangzeb literally ordered the destructions of many Hindu temples, forced non-muslims to pay much higher taxes, killed Sambhaji Maharaj and Guru Tegh Bahadur and many others mercilessly, in most inhumane ways possible, and what not. And still there exists an Aurangzeb Road in Delhi. Let’s us agree that history is as much as reflection of our values as it is a record of past deeds. And if defending him or any other Islamic tyrant means ignoring the prickly details in favour of a polished narrative, then I suppose we must all take a long, hard look on what we are celebrating. Because, my dear defenders, if you must cling to a legacy built on controversy, at least do so with awareness that glittering revisionism rarely covers up the prickles underneath.

Another such reflection is, Bakhtiyar Khalji, who demolished the mighty Nalanda University, has a town under his name where the university was, called as ‘Bakhtiyarpur’. Mind you, it burned for months and months, imagine the industrial scale knowledge that disappeared in thin air! And we still are not willing to change the names of such places! Well, Connaught Place was changed to Rajiv Chowk in an instance. And I would argue every other residential colony, colleges, or even roads end with Nehru in India, which is good but then again unnecessary (I wonder if any road in Lutyens’ Delhi would ever be named after Veer Savarkar) What is so difficult? Do we as Indians have selective dementia that we keep forgetting who we were? Or do we just yearn to bring the ruling political right out of power, that in the process, we are rejecting everything that was our identity, and promoting what is not ours?

So, my dear readers, I ask you—when will we truly decolonise our minds? When will we stop thinking that a British accent means intelligence? When will we stop acting like our own history is a side character in someone else’s story? When will we finally realise that success doesn’t mean “going abroad” and culture doesn’t mean “eating with fork”?  And what shall we strive to avoid such dangerous plague?

Everybody's got a choice, but they also possess a Nelson's eye!

We must remember who we were before we were told who we should be. We must remember that our worth is not measured in burrowed accents or foreign diplomas. We must remember that our stories matter, our wisdom matters, our ways of seeing and knowing the world matter. For the true battle was never for our land, it was for our minds. And that battle is still not over!