China Irks its Neighbors: 'Troika' Emerges as Indian Ocean Powerzone

The China Passport Debacle: Troika Emerges in Indian Ocean Zone
China has done it again with imprinting a map on its new passports including regions that were not part of its territory. China long claimed these regions as part of People's Republic of China, but resorted to crystalizing that claim only recently in this map. The result is not only strong but compounded. Its neighbors India, Indonesia and Australia finally came together to form a trilateral alliance (Troika) to curb any further advances or territorial claims by China. Is this a sign that China is asserting its superior position in the region, while sending a subtle warning it neighbors?
India-Australia-Indonesia
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-27/india/35386419_1_peter-varghese-uranium-issue-east-asia-summit

Dubai Unveils Plans to Replicate Tajmahal!

A unique copy of Tajmahal is planned to be constructed in Dubai!
Every tourist is excited to see the numerous replicas of Tajmahal, famous being the Legoland model, its replica in the miniland. But the recent announcement from Dubai is astonishing. Dubai plans to build an exact replica, only that it is four times larger than the original Tajmahal in India.

What does this mean for India and the rest of the world?
 When they go to Dubai next time, they could see a much bigger Tajmahal than the previous models such as the Legoland- Miniland Tajmahal.
However, one question remains. Is Dubai going the way of Legoland, which had built mini cityscapes   and various national landmarks for the tourists? When are we going to see Eiffel Tower, or Pisa rebuilt to giant proportions in Dubai. Welcome to Megaland Dubai!

Et tu Oprah!

India has always baffled most of her visitors since ancient period. If history is any indication, India acquired both positive and negative responses from its visitors. V.S. Naipul even systematized it in three stages. Salmon Rushdie acknowledges the draw of India back and forth. Every visitor to India had something to say.
However, Oprah is an exception. With her African-American childhood in America, with her remarkable life's journey, and experiences with Africa behind her, one expects Oprah to bring out a new perspective on India, rather than add to the western notions that already exist about India. What does Africa think about India? We may never know!

Nalanda International University Set to Open

Nalanda International University Set to Open in Fall 2012

Nalanda University, an ancient world University that attracted and educated world scholars to India for 700 years (497C.E-1197 C.E), laid in ruins for almost 800 years is set to reopen and revive the spirit of education and knowledge http://nalandauniv.edu.in/.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09garten.html?pagewanted=all


Nalanda is a place of great intellectual heritage. Huen Tsang immortalized the university in his memoir of his travels in India and the Tang Empire Chronicled the texts Huen Tsang brought from India, which were later on translated into Chinese. As numerous other well known universities earlier, including the Taxila university, Nalada university of such great intellectual eminence and scholarship is destroyed in raids following the establishment of the Sultanate in Delhi. Alberuni painstakingly described how the unarmed monks were chased through the compound of Nalanda,  hunted down and trampled on by the horses, by the invaders seeking to find wealth. The armies then proceeded to loot and plunder the Gangetic doab.

Hopefully, Nalanda will bring back the age old memories to life and function as an independent knowledge center supporting merit, hard work and sincerity and gain international reputation of yore.

As stated in the University's mission as, "match the excellence of Nalanda of first millennium for the third millennium," may come true, and hopefully, the University will evolve  in to an international center for exchange and cultivation of knowledge of eminence for which it was known for in the past. Nobel Laureate, Amarthya Sen, the Argumentative Indian, Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, need to be commended for their hard work, dedication and successful completion of this project.

Asian Americans and Religion
 A recent Pew survey finds Asian Americans show diverse faiths, and among them Hindu Asians show a diversity of practices. While Hindus tend to attend formalized prayer services less, they practice more of individualized religious practices, such as meditation, pray at home shrine etc.


http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths-overview.aspx#hindus

A Great Resource on Asian Art
Please check the Asia Society Website for great pictures and data on Asian Art.


http://www.asiasocietymuseum.org/default.asp

What is History?

What is History?

Historians have offered a number of definitions to understand the nature, and meaning of History. History is the collective memory of a society. As a collective memory, it may not be remembered or expressed by all in the same way. Each group may hold a certain type of memory or source that it deems important. This brings forward two important points. Who then decides what is to be remembered, and what is a source of history? History may sometimes originate from the most unexpected sources. The poem, Ozymandias (please check the wikipedia link for the poems and background), clearly illustrates this issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias

Shelly expressed his own view after he visited the exhibition of Egyptian antiquities in British museum. However, his friend, Smith, also expressed his own view of the same image, which is slightly different. Both of their views are of course different from the museum notes about the image. Except for the basic information about the name of the person (Ozymandiaz- a shortened name of Egyptian Emperor, Rameses), and place, these poems express the views of the poets. This brings forward the four views that collide into forming the history: 1. The Original Person's view, 2. The Cultural Successors view, 3. An Outside Observer's view, 4. A Layman's view
The Original Person's view, as gleaned from the inscription is only left in fragments, although the inscription claims to have built a great city. The original person's view is always positive, idealistic and a bit publicity seeking.
 The Cultural Successor's view, presents a reclaiming and re-owning the past, and lean towards idealist perspective again.
An Outside Obsever's view is represented by Shelly's poem and Smiths poem. It is also represented by the museum notes that both the poets may have used to reconstruct their views of the image. This represents the most common base of historical knowledge and works.
A Layman's View is paraphrased in Smith's poem, as that of a hunter passing by the the statue on his own expedition. This may represent a non expert view.

What is missing from above is the expert's view, in the form of historians notes. This is what is the most important part of history. A historian is expected to research and understand all the above types of view points, but record only the most objective history.

A historian is bound to experience and encounter all the above views during one's research on a subject. But the historian should always be careful to present only the most accurate and objective observations based on careful analysis of facts and figures and must not be wavered in to hasty judgement. Because, historians are charged with maintaining the most authentic account of the past to pass it on to the future generations.
1. Historians are then the keepers and maintainers of the public memory of society.
2.  Historians are charged with responsibility to maintain objective and appropriate history.
This then makes it a noble profession.

Therefore, the historians must practice their profession responsibly and not let their personal views be reflected in their historical research and writing.