Civilization to Globalization

"Do you ride to school on an elephant, are there snake charmers round every street corner?" were some of the often asked amusing questions of my aunt when she was studying in the US many years ago. This stemmed from complete ignorance about what India was all about.

Recently, we had friends from the US who were keen to know about the rich heritage of our great country. This was a good opportunity to bust the myths that were associated with India at one time. What better place than the exposition of "Discovery of India" at Nehru Center.

The 14 galleries took us through the interesting history of our land. The cave like entrance of the first gallery took us back in time to the Stone Age. Next, we walked through the well planned Harappan cities. A canopy of a night sky twinkling with stars was the entrance to the Vedic period. The chanting of the mantras filled the room with an aura of peace and tranquility. Images reached out from three-dimensional replicas of major architectural and artistic works like the Sanchi Stupa and The Ashoka Pillar at the Mauryan Peace gallery. As we walked on we experienced ages of splendor and opulence, art and aesthetics which created India's rainbow of diversity. "The roots of the present lie in the past", Panditji had said. It rang so true as I walked through one gallery to another. Depicting the various stages of Indian history it was like a film unfolding before my eyes in 3-D, where I was one of the protagonists.

The climax was the Freedom Struggle Gallery which touched my heart the most. As we walked through the jail like entrance and saw the hand-cuffs, chains and the sign board that said "Dogs and Indians Not Allowed", a surge of emotions overtook me. We are unaware of the agony behind independence that made one man Gandhiji, stand up for freedom and mobilize an entire nation. Our freedom was achieved by many known leaders and countless unsung heroes who fought tooth and nail to get us...