FROM THE EYES OF ONE WHO SEES

I have always disliked History as a subject, especially the one taught in Indian schools because I always felt that the narration was very lopsided and mass-appeasing to be factually correct. But as I grew I realized that this holds true with everything in life. For example, the same event will be recounted by different people in different and sometimes even contradictory terms. They could have seen the exact same event unfold before their eyes and yet their brains will process the information in light of their personal views, opinions, beliefs, biases and perceptions. Their past experiences will also have a bearing on how their mind converts the visuals into memory and eventually when they narrate the incident, all of these aspects will consciously or subconsciously mix with the facts, often becoming an inseparable part of the narrative in the process.

So is there any one correct version of any event? Is there any one truth? This is an extremely tricky question. I personally believe that we accept that narrative as the ultimate truth which is nearest to our own belief system; one that we are most comfortable with. If any other perspective is revealed to us, it is ingrained in our basic human nature to dismiss and reject it because it does not conform to what we have come to believe. Thus I think it is safe to conclude that there is no one ultimate truth. There are just various perspectives and people who either subscribe to them or don’t. Some may even go a step further and come up with their own take on the subject matter. Come to think of it, isn’t this how all the religions came into existence?