I have been a history and science buff since childhood. It started with my reading of Valmiki Ramayan , Ram Charit Manas by Tulsidas and Mahabharat by Vyas. Besides these also read many puranas. However, what really fascinated was the Vedas especially Upanishads , Later when I was studying at my boarding school, Sainik School Tilaiya we had some amazing teachers and library and few of my book-loving classmates and be used to discuss sports, science. One book by The Tao of Physics by Nuclear Physicist Fritizof Capra really captivated us. It aroused our interest and generated a lot of respect in our ancient history and scientists, (Rishis),
Later I went to Delhi for my secondary school at Modern School Vasant Vihar which was an entirely different experience and cultural shock. In Delhi I also discovered the wonderful library of JNU when i could read even more. I also discovered some great scholars like Ram Swarup, Sita Ram Goel, David Frawley, Koenraad Elst, Arun Shourie, and many other scholars. There I discovered a publication http://voiceofdharma.org/
(ealier known as Voice of India). I would also visit many libraries in Delhi like British Library, American Library, Russian Library, German Library etc I also joined RSS after they put a ban on it. Later also joined JNU to start a Shakha of RSS.
Later, I returned to Patna I also met a senior who exposed in life when I went to IIM Ahmedabad for MBA I realized how different my experiences, world views from rest of my classmates was who had mainly been raised on the NCERT textbooks with a history written by JNU Historians like Romila Thapar, RS Sharma, Irfan Habib with a left-leaning ideology. They are best described by Arun Shourie’s book, Eminent Historians.
I feel so fortunate to wander around or get lost rather than following the straight lines which my parents or teachers would have wanted. However, these divergent experiences or wandering/exploring mindset has given a very different world view. Coming back to current times, when the world is fighting an existential crisis and challenges due to the Covid19 virus which has already killed thousands globally. In this time I feel it is a “Reset” button pressed by the planet earth. We need to get back to the basics of a back to nature, family, and friends. We need to reduce our consumerist, selfish culture and revert back to a caring and giving culture.
