N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India and the Chancellor of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, opined that Indian history taught at the school-level is largely skewed towards Delhi and mostly pertains to the northern region of the country. He added that the history pertaining to kingdoms and incidents of historical significance from other regions are grossly missing in the historical narrative in the country.
Speaking after inaugurating the 14th Tirupati Book Festival organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Tirupati Kendra at S.V. High School grounds here on Saturday, Mr. Gopalaswami said that he saw a pertinent need for the curriculum to accommodate glorious chapters pertaining to the rest of India.
Recalling how he studied at a Tamil-medium school living at his grandfather’s house, Mr. Gopalaswami credited Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda and Bhavan’s Publications for helping him get through English texts. The Padma Bhushan awardee also recalled how the much-acclaimed works of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Munshi Premchand ushered a sea change in his perspective of issues.
N. Ramanuja, president of N.P. Birla Institute of Management and the founder chairman of Bhavan’s Bengaluru Kendra, emphasised on digitisation of Bhavan’s Publications and making them search-enabled for a better outreach of the books.
Similarly, making the valued regional language publications available in English would enhance their acceptance, citation and quotability at the academic level, Mr. Gopalaswami said.
Bhavan’s honorary director N. Satyanarayana Raju said 90 publication houses from various States had come here with their wide array of books and appealed to the denizens to make use of the opportunity.
Bhavan’s Kendra office-bearers Alladi Mohan welcomed the gathering, while P. Sudhakar Reddy proposed a vote of thanks.
