At the Acropolis yesterday, my middle-aged and temperamental guide, after explaining the Roman theater (or odeon, which finally explains why so many cinemas in the world are called Odeon... Not sure about why many others are called Eros, though) said "That's enough about Romans, now I'm going Greek." I almost fell off: clearly the woman didn't know the lurid-ness of that phrase, though it is not unreasonable given the old Greek proclivities dating to Alexander.
Alexander. There is one name that you hardly hear mentioned, forget about proudly mentioned. His tyrannical style never fit with democratic Athens, which after sinking into obscurity through the Roman, Byzantine and Turkish occupations, finally emerged as the capital of the Greeks. It makes you wonder why the Greeks even fight over FYROM - they never seemed to have much liked Macedonia, not the Athenians at any rate.
Makes you wonder why India views the Mughals as dear sons of the soil rather than the abrasive interlopers they were, Babur forever lamenting the torpor of this land, contrasting with the cool mountains and (adopted) Persian culture and finery.
The similarities hardly end there: Greece vs Turkey, formerly a mostly-Hellenic region and population converted into a new identify, hating its progenitors, and finally the population exchange... Anyone with half a brain can see the similarity with the subcontinent. The one difference is that coming out of partition the Hindus outnumbered those who had turned during the long occupations. Apart from that accident, there is no binding ethos, and what is left is being chipped away daily. Where is the Smithsonian Institute of India? Where is the concerted effort to rediscover and shepherd the multi-faceted Indic legacy that goes beyond lip service to the Indus civilization and a few Sanskrit books? What an enormous waste.
Contrast this with the way the Greeks tie their free new country to their rich legacy, even as they are the poorest in Europe - the rightful re-appropriation of the West's traditions, the deep sense of history and even the resurrection of their pre-Roman, pre-Christian past, as embodied in the terrific Acropolis museum.
We could all go Greek, a bit, actually.
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3 comments:
Having spent the past few days in what was formerly known as Shah Jahanpur, and a few days before that in Jaipur- I say we could definitely go a little Greek. Or Rajput for that matter. :)
Which one is shah jahanpur?
That would be Delhi. Or rather, Old Delhi- the former shah-jahanpur. It seemed like Shah Jahan could come by on his horse anytime in some of the more untouched parts of chandini chowk and in the Nizamuddin area.
I think I was in a kebab induced hallucination at some points. There definitely was something illegal in them- because they were that gooood!
Luckily, the ubiquitous metro stations everywhere serve as an apt reminder that it is 2012, not 1638.
But they were a great way to get around town, and stay warm (heated stations and trains) so I wasn't complaining.
Divya
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