'I am History: of two lost centuries
Of centuries lost in the time of the colonial
Of centuries lost in the time of the colonized'
KKT
After a hectic few weeks of conference organisation, thesis marking and general end of term assessment duties I finally have the space to write again. Despite the whirl of work here I have been keeping track of events in my old home Shimla and was interested to hear of the Sri Lankan president’s wife’s remarks on Shimla the other day. Reportedly, when asked what she intended to do while In Shimla she replied “This town holds links to a common history and I would like to visit all the heritage places during my stay here,”. This set me thinking about the way that the unique history of Shimla adds value to the present at the same time as connecting it with other places.
I have been reading lately a lot about Actor Network Theory, or ANT for short. This argues that it is useful to look at the world topologically. By which it means in terms of flows and connections. It is therefore argued that, because of the flow of people, ideas and commodities between Delhi and London, Delhi is topologically closer to London that it is to Shilong. Thinking of the world this way therefore complicates notions of a bounded Nation State.
Returning to the comments of the Sri Lankan visitors to Shimla I cannot but wonder at their choice of emphasising shared historical connections over present day connections and I wonder where this leaves ANT. Perhaps more importantly it reminds us that the sign on Shimla Mall which proclaims our built heritage is our identity is only part of the story. Shimla’s built heritage is not only important for the identity of Shimlites but also for that of others.
I began this post with a stanza by the Assamese Poet, Kamal Kumar Tanti, the poet envisages the colonial period as a period of lost history. That is to say not that the colonial history is lost to the present, but rather that in the story of the collective history of Assam, 200 years of organic development was robbed from the Assamese people. It is as if the Colonial period was a period of 200 years torn out of the timeline of the Assamese who disappear from history for this period only to reappear again after the colonial period has ended. This view of history seems to be in direct contrast to Shiranthi Rajapaksha’s understanding. In her vision Shimla is not so much an alien interruption in the history of India as an important site, which facilitates connection with the history of India and a broader history that includes Sri Lanka.
I would like to conclude today’s musing by turning my thoughts away from Shimla and back to London, or at least Oxford. For, it has always seemed to me that the past network flows between the British Isles and the Indian subcontinent have also left a historical trace on the UK. This is the topic of discussion in the forthcoming Oxford conference Bharat Britain: South Asians Making Britain 1870-1950. As part of the conference they will launch a more permanent exhibition and database that I will certainly be keen to explore as soon as possible.Maybe we can discover more about how Shimla has shaped the UK.
