They say history is a useless subject.That only a small amount of 'crazies' would actually enjoy committing to memory fruitless information such as why the French Revolution ever took place, who was Stalin?;answers forgotten after the 10th grade.
Enter me. A kid who studied history with passion.To whom each revolution,each revolt was a topic of interest . A kid who hated his senior high due to the lack of arts.Anyways enough of me, I'm here to share what I saw in a place which is known by every Indian as the place where an inhumane act took place, an act that shook all of India back in 1919, The Jallianwala Bagh.
For those of who don't know, I'll give it to you in short. In April 13 1919, a huge crowd of Indians had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the Rowlatt Act which made it possible for any Indian to be arrested without trial.The Jallianwala Bagh had only one narrow entrance, through which General Dyer and 50 of his soldiers fired at the gathering.Deaths were estimated from 379 to 1500.
I had the privilege of visiting this Bagh a few days back. My batchmates from college were on tour. Apart from the mindless touring and the endless drinking, this was something I was looking forward to . Something I had only seen in textbooks.
Enter me. A kid who studied history with passion.To whom each revolution,each revolt was a topic of interest . A kid who hated his senior high due to the lack of arts.Anyways enough of me, I'm here to share what I saw in a place which is known by every Indian as the place where an inhumane act took place, an act that shook all of India back in 1919, The Jallianwala Bagh.
For those of who don't know, I'll give it to you in short. In April 13 1919, a huge crowd of Indians had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the Rowlatt Act which made it possible for any Indian to be arrested without trial.The Jallianwala Bagh had only one narrow entrance, through which General Dyer and 50 of his soldiers fired at the gathering.Deaths were estimated from 379 to 1500.
I had the privilege of visiting this Bagh a few days back. My batchmates from college were on tour. Apart from the mindless touring and the endless drinking, this was something I was looking forward to . Something I had only seen in textbooks.
But to my horror, the place was being massacred.I could tell that not a single person there didn't know the gravity of the situation.In the center of the Bagh lies a memorial dedicated to the victims of the massacre
To my horror, I see teenagers taking selfies wearing cheap shades standing next to this memorial. Even my batchmates joined in on the fun.All were cheerfully posing near the memorial.
The same happened when I went near the walls that showed the bullet holes made by the soldierspon firing on the helpless Indians
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Not only I was pushed about by people videotaping these sights(which were later deleted to make room for more selfies(god! I hate the word), but I also had to listen to comments on why these were even relavant. Upon hearing these comments, I was fed up with tagging along with these people that I made a beeline to the well.
This well is where victims jumped in, to avoid firing.Around 120 bodies were recovered from this well as they could not make it due to a curfew being imposed.This is now honored as the Martyr's Well. Upon reaching this well , I could picture myself in 1919.People running in panic and chaos everywhere. My flashback was short lived as people in my class started approaching me asking me to explain this well's significance .Some thing they had thrown up in their answer papers years back.
So to all my readers, please do learn your history.It helps you to appreciate the present,how the present was won and also to recognize the efforts to achieve the present we live in. Please don't think of history as a worthless subject. If you still think, it's not for you, please do not make a mockery of historical landmarks.
P.S- The pictures were borrowed from google as I didn't have a camera on me
