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The call of the civilisation

Bharat Bhushan Gupta's just-published account, "India Through Ages", relates 5000 years of long history of India

ARRANGING FACTS Bharat Bhushan Gupta's book addresses how a civilisation's survival depends on its flexibility to comprehend change

Yunan-o-misr-o-roma, sab mit gaye jahan se,

baqi magar hai ab tak nam-o-nishan hamara

This popular couplet of Mohammad Iqbal very well forms the essence of Bharat Bhushan Gupta's just-published account of India through ages. Aptly named "India Through Ages", Gupta's tome, published by Niyogi Books, relates 5000 years long history of India in one volume. It describes India's growth from the Mohan-jo-Daro days to the modern and strong democracy it presently is.

"There is something immutable about India that has helped in refuting the cycle of vicissitudes that numerous other civilisations have succumbed to," the author said at the book release function in New Delhi's India Habitat Centre the other day. A desire to comprehend the unique capacity that has made it one of the longest surviving civilisations propelled Gupta to undertake this book, he announced.

How long a civilisation can survive depends on its flexibility to comprehend change, a point that Gupta has addressed in his book.

A bird's-eye view

"If India produced a Buddha and an Ashoka in ancient times, it could also produce an Amir Khusrou and Akbar in medieval ages, and a Gandhi in modern era. It is the resilience of producing such gems that provide continuity to this civilisation", he said.

Emphasising on the pluralistic nature of our society, he stated that different tributaries of human race from different lands have been enriching the mainstream of Indian thought and culture for ages.

Mushirul Hassan, a leading historian and Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia University, launched the book and described it as one of the best books to get a "bird's eye view" of the Indian civilisation.

Hassan said the richness and variety of civilisation and its amazing continuity that is singularly unique to India were some very good reasons for undertaking a comprehensive project of this kind.

"Bharat Bhushan is a man of considerable experience. It's a tall order to encapsulate history of any civilisation for over 5000 years; only a brave person would have undertaken it," he commented. Moreover the strength of the book lies in its eclectic approach," he added.

Also present on the occasion was veteran artiste Zohra Segal whom Hassan described as a perfect representative of India's composite culture.

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