I had started this blog to write end of 2016 about my wanderings, but got occupied in taking the journey. Most material on India has been written by individuals who never belonged to the land. Most dates are conjectures and most materials are simple extrapolations. The lack of analytical material was itself a revelation and it was difficult to handle the sloppy work. We took upon ourselves to go through the original texts as much as possible to help recreate the texture of life.
We developed our own thinking as we progressed. Much new material evolved through group discussion and self-reflection that we reported in our seminars. I would not go into all details, but express my delight on the period that we just completed.
We labeled the period as Hindu Period spanning from 500AD to 1500AD. This was the fifth period in our seminar roster, earlier ones being the Indus Period, the Vedic Period, the Classical Period
(700BC-200BC) and the Golden Period (200BC-500AD). These adjectives were adopted from the
earlier classification, giving the impression that India was at its peak in wealth and well-being around 400AD. What we discovered was that the period did extend much longer and India was a land of style, fashion and creativity till people lost their homes and their lands to arbitrary taxation.
While the process of terror and insecurity would be the topic in our next seminar, I wish to express my delight to invite you to walk on the streets of Ujjain, or Kashi or Puri or Madurai in 1100AD.
You would see well-dressed people walking, ladies with style and sophistication going their way, the stores selling design textiles and art objects, and artists singing or dancing in various city theaters. There is no competition, each person feels secure and free. In the corner, poets have assembled and they are reciting their compositions. The language of conversation is rich, the contents of the conversation is technical. Then there are number wizards who are setting up their instruments to measure the shadow to measure time and are predicting the future events in the sky. So is the observation by AlBiruni, the Arab historian who happened to accompany Mohammed Ghori and stayed back to study India.
The Golden period did not end, it became a Platinum Period. The prosperity reached people and everyone became creative and artistic. We see art in clay, stone., metals, gold, gems, textiles, food, cooking and in personal habits. The God was not out there in the heavens, but it was in one's work, in the person's tools, it expressed through the person's hands. Literature itself became an art. The God came in human voice and people felt the cosmos through their music. The harmony and the aesthetics became the ruling principle. Each one is free and independent, but each action fits to an undefined whole which gets created by the group through collaboration and constructive energy. The power of seeing the harmony was God, who would guide if one went beyond one's self and tried to see the whole.
India exported materials, traded with various countries, settled in the Far East, propagated religious ideas in China, Tibet and Cambodia. They built temples at home and built temples abroad. Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam accepted Indian thoughts and adopted Indian languages.
Engineering techniques on metallurgy, stone carving and construction projects were mastered. Artists enjoyed to produce new work, The tradition of good work ran in the families. Nutrition and fresh food were important and people maintained excellent health. There was food for all. Nobody went hungry.
I can continue for pages, but shall stop here. I will analyze various contributions that made India
prosperous in the future blog posts. Presently I am curious to know how we lost it all. We have
some understanding, but I wish to come to a firm conclusion. I will write gradually.
