Latest news with #Aryans
Time of India
20-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
No evidence of Aryan invasion, says DU prof
Patna: Delhi University teacher of ancient history, Vishwa Mohan Jha , on Tuesday refuted the century-old Aryan invasion theory (AIT), which claims that Aryans entered India violently, conquering and killing the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation . Speaking at the second Professor Surendra Gopal Memorial Lecture at the Bihar State Archives auditorium, Jha said, "There is no incontrovertible evidence to support this theory. Cuts found on skulls at archaeological sites were likely due to unprofessional excavations." Instead, citing recent research, Jha supported the Aryan Emigration Theory (AET), which posits a slow and peaceful migration of Aryans from the Bactria-Azerbaijan region of Central Asia into India. "The new evidence supports the emigration of Aryans into India through gradual movement and settlement from the west towards eastern regions, including modern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," he said. "We have been in so much awe of the Aryan Invasion Theory, first propounded by Sir Mortimer Wheeler around 1924, that historians have continued to believe in it despite the lack of evidence," he added. Jha added that the word 'Aryan' refers both to the people and their language. He said three types of evidence – linguistic, archaeological and genetic – support the AET or Out of India Theory (OIT). "Massive human movement from Central Asia gave rise to two linguistic branches – Indo-Europeans, whose Greek and Latin languages resemble Sanskrit and Indo-Aryans, who spoke Sanskrit and its later variants like Prakrit and Magadhi," he said. Jha added that Indo-Aryans likely entered India via two routes – through the west of Punjab and via the Pamir mountains into Kashmir. "Archaeology has yielded evidence of settlement and artefacts like beads in Kashmir and the Pamir region," he said. He also referenced anthropologist H H Risley's classification and said, "People in western India, including Kashmir, share physical traits – tall, fair, long-nosed – that resemble the Aryans."
India.com
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Meet actress who made debut with Shah Rukh Khan, was Shahid Kapoor's first heroine, later quit industry due to..., her name is..., married to...
Meet actress who made debut with Shah Rukh Khan, was Shahid Kapoor's first heroine, later quit industry due to..., her name is..., married to... In the unpredictable world of Bollywood, fame is always fleeting. A celebrity who would be winning hearts one day might become totally irrelevant and vanish in thin air the next day. However, in a place where many celebrities come and go, there are a few celebrities who remain etched in our memory despite their active contribution to the industry. There is one such actress who is an example of this. Starring opposite big names like Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor, this girl wasn't a household name or a blockbuster star, but her early work in Indian pop culture and cinema is still remembered by people who grew up watching her films. Born on 10 May 1981 in Mumbai, Hrishitaa Bhatt made her debut in the film Ashoka (2001) in which she appeared with the 'Badshah' of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan. For this film, Rishita also received the Zee Cine Award for Best Debut Actress. Her next film was 'Dil Vil Pyar Pyar' (2002) which was liked by the people, but it didn't make a mark at the box office. After this, Hrishitaa worked in films like 'Jawani Diwani', 'Shararat', and 'Haasil' However, the performance that rose Hrishitaa Bhatt to fame was when she appeared in a hugely popular music video 'Aankhon Mein Tera Hi Chehra' by the Aryans. The song, which came out in 1999, was a blockbuster and Shahid's first appearance in front of the camera. Shahid was only 17 when he had his first on-screen romantic pairing with Hrishitaa, who became his 'first heroine' — a tag that has remained with her over the years as Shahid became one of the leading Bollywood actors. With the success of the music video, Rishita moved over to films. She made her entry into Bollywood in 2001 with Asoka alongside Shah Rukh Khan. In the subsequent years, Rishita acted in movies such as Haasil, Shararat, and Jawani Diwani, sharing screens with the stars Jimmy Shergill and Hrithik Roshan. Although Hrishitaa worked with top names in Bollywood and was a powerhouse of talent, she couldn't make a mark in massy films or become a household name. Coming to her personal life, Hrishitaa tied the knot in 2017 with Anant Tiwari top diplomat for the United Nations, in an intimate wedding ceremony with only her family and friends as guests. Today, she stays low-key but active on Instagram, where she has a following of more than 1 million fans. Although she is not acting anymore, her ageless beauty and poise continue to mesmerize her dedicated fans.
Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Opinion NCERT's attempt to change history in school textbooks undermines our diverse past
The latest changes introduced by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in the social science and English textbooks for class VII have sparked many controversies. Previously, students of class VII had three separate books for history, geography, and social and political life. However, NCERT has now put these three subjects into one unified volume titled Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part I). The second part of this new book is likely to come out within a few months. Previously class VII history book included sections on the medieval Delhi Sultanate (12th-15th centuries) and the rise of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, but the new combined textbook has omitted these topics. NCERT has also not cleared its stance about whether these topics would be covered in the forthcoming second volume. Many educationists are sceptical about the inclusion of these topics in the second part of the book. Such scepticism is indeed not unfounded. In the recent past, NCERT has introduced other curriculum changes that have provoked debate. For instance, last year, it made significant revisions to the class XII history syllabus, pointing out that the recent archaeological research effectively dismissed the theory that the fall of the Harappan civilisation was caused by the migration of the Aryans into India. Such a change clearly implies that the Aryans should not be considered foreigners to the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, in a class VI history textbook, the NCERT removed the word 'Hindu' from a chapter on Birsa Munda. The earlier edition of the book mentioned that Birsa Munda had 'opposed the missionaries and Hindu landlords.' In the new edition, the word 'Hindu' was deleted from this sentence. The new class VII social science textbook includes a chapter titled 'How the Land Became Sacred.' It begins with a quotation from the Bhagavata Purana and discusses the sacredness and significance of pilgrimage sites for all religions. The chapter even contains a special section on the Kumbh Mela. Naturally, academics have questioned whether a school textbook can have a chapter on the sacred nature of religious sites at all. It is evident that in making changes to the school textbooks, NCERT's primary target is history. It seems that NCERT aims to present a fragmentary picture of Indian history to the students that is likely to erase the image of a country that celebrated unity in diversity. Notably, for the ideological purposes of the state, young minds happen to be the most fertile breeding ground. Louis Althusser showed long ago that among the ideological state apparatuses, the school is the most powerful and effective one in modern times. A child spends most of the time of a day in school. To a child, a textbook can appear as the gospel truth. This is why, silently, the state performs the task of manipulating future citizens using the school as an ideological state apparatus. Two important points need to be noted here. First, in a post-modern sphere of understanding, nobody can call history sacrosanct. Multiple interpretations of a historical event are, of course, always available. The perspective chosen for writing a historical event determines which version of history will be presented to the readers. But can well-established facts ever be altered? For instance, Birsa Munda fought against Hindu zamindars; this is a fact. Similarly, will the history of India be complete without the Mughal era? Second, the NCERT is an autonomous central body. It can prepare textbooks and advise on various subjects for both the central and state school boards, but it cannot compel all the boards to adopt its recommendations. The reason is simple. Since education is on the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution, state governments are not always obliged to accept the recommendations of NCERT. For example, in West Bengal, the English-medium schools affiliated with the state's Board of Secondary Education do not use NCERT textbooks. The same is true in many other states of India. Even the ICSE board mostly does not use NCERT books. Only the CBSE board religiously uses NCERT textbooks. So, the ideological turn is not going to have a large-scale impact across the schools. Against this backdrop, one must return to Althusser. He maintains that even within a state-controlled system of education, there are always a few teachers who do not teach students toeing the ideological line; rather, they teach them to think differently. Many may recall the school Udayan Pandit runs in Satyajit Ray's film Hirak Rajar Deshe. Despite the oppression of the state, it is ultimately Udayan Pandit who comes out victorious in his rebellion against the King. There are many Udayan Pandits even in the schools that teach NCERT textbooks. It should also not be forgotten that the federal structure of India is the greatest safeguard for the ethos of unity in diversity in India. Moreover, history is not written only on the pages of textbooks; history is also inscribed in the collective memory of people. Memory cannot be erased at will.
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Fearless and Free by Josephine Baker review – ‘ten lives in one'
'Who else could ever have had a story like hers?' writes Ijeoma Oluo in the foreword to Josephine Baker's memoir. 'The dancer, the singer, the ingenue, the scandal maker, the activist, the spy – Josephine Baker lived at least 10 lives in one.' Translated gorgeously into English for the first time by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis, Fearless and Free comprises stories and reflections in Baker's own voice, drawn from conversations with the French writer Marcel Sauvage that began in 1926 and continued for more than 20 years afterwards. They cover her early life in St Louis, her adventures in Europe and eventual transformation into, as Sauvage puts it, an 'actress and French citizen of worldwide renown'. Memoirs that span a lifetime can lack narrative drive. 'Life, when you think about it later,' says Baker, 'is a series of images … a film in your heart.' And yet Baker's matchless character propels the reader. She exudes love and life on the page. And that voice! Her younger one, bright, witty, effervescent, and her older one, wiser, angrier, and still so funny. Her storytelling is writerly and precise, with satisfying arcs in a single sentence or a page. 'My childhood was the type where you have no stockings. I was cold and I danced to keep warm.' Starting out in Paris, she is late for shows because she's eating soup with the concierge. On tour in Europe, she throws photos to the crowd outside her window. 'I have never seen so many squashed straw hats.' Or performing for allied soldiers in Berlin in January 1945: 'They gave us piles, kilos, hundreds of kilos of German certificates for good conduct that they'd found in the basements of the Reichstag, under the rubble … Proof that we'd be Aryans, and good ones, for ever!' She relishes food and loves her superstitions. In my favourite chapter, she shares recipes and advice. 'Ladies, sleep naked under your sheets,' dance, sweat, and don't be shy with makeup. I wrote down her flan recipe, and, I admit, one for a rheumatism ointment (I mean, look at it): 'Take a really fat rattlesnake. Then skin it – alive. Then peel off the fat in the same way … But the snake must be skinned alive, you hear. And it's hard to find the right kind of snake in Europe.' Sauvage's presence adds a cheerful, reflective quality. She's talking to him, and to us. 'Write that down, Monsieur Sauvage.' There is a cheeky sort of intimacy in their chats; I could go barely three pages without doing a spit-take. 'We've been hiding our buttocks too much for too long,' she says. 'Buttocks exist. I don't know why we dislike them. There are also buttocks that are terribly silly, of course, terribly pretentious, terribly mediocre. All they are good for is sitting on, if that.' History, we can all agree, was on her side on that one. As it has been for so many things. In Europe, she's stunned by the religious hypocrisy, hateful leaflets and speeches about her shows. 'People think I've come straight out of the wilderness … folly of the flesh, chaos of the senses, frenzied animality … White imagination is something else when it comes to coloured folk.' Then she gets up on stage and sings 'with all my heart, with my whole, trembling, beating heart. I sang Sleep, My Poor Baby, an old Negro spiritual from back in the slave times when Negroes were good for nothing but dying from exhaustion and despair after being beaten by their very Christian owners.' And I haven't even gotten to the part where she spies for the French resistance! It's a delightful, nourishing read, along with the rest of her remarkable life, but the most interesting chapter is written (not spoken) by Baker herself, published first in the newspaper France-Soir. Returning to America after years in Paris, she goes undercover as Miss Brown 'to travel towards the south while doing everything that was forbidden for a 'coloured woman''. She gapes at the racism of the north ('American cities that pride themselves on being at the forefront of all progress') and the outright violence of the Jim Crow south. In Harlem, she writes about the living conditions of black communities whose bosses and landlords were often Jewish, and her reactions to that are complex, raw, uncomfortable to read 70-odd years later. 'Why, in an ironic twist of fate for both of them, must the poor coloured people of Harlem be a punching bag for the Jews, who've forgotten their forefathers' story?' In her foreword, Oluo explains that without historical context Baker's 'blanket statements could cause harm and contribute to bigotry and antisemitism, which I do believe Baker would have opposed … power locks people into hierarchies of white supremacy and deputizes many oppressed people in the subjugation of those with whom they might otherwise stand in solidarity.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion In most things, though, Baker is wise and innately kind. She rages on behalf of the marginalised and the poor. 'Are we just bugs to these good Americans?' She teaches us to dance, to make funny faces, that 'money never made anyone shine', that children and animals enrich our lives. 'There is a youthfulness that is free, eternal and for ever, in spite of everything … that's enough in itself,' she writes. 'As for the future … I hope we'll be able to live naked. There are only a few women, and very few men, who could live naked, show themselves naked. That's all.' Fearless and Free by Josephine Baker is translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis and published by Vintage Classics (£18.99). 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