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Palimpsest


A palimpsest is a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on erased earlier writing. In the olden days, when parchments were used for writing, palimpsests were quite common. The motive for reusing parchments must have been pragmatic and economic. Maybe, political too, as when Christianity replaced original pagan writings with its own texts.

Jawaharlal Nehru described India as a palimpsest, “an ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written previously.” India witnessed many conquests. As a result, quite a variety of cultures and civilisations entered the country and intermingled. Hinduism, Islam and the Western civilisation, all have left their imprints on the palimpsest that India is today.

The present government in Delhi is going out of its way to erase a lot of the country’s past and write an entirely new history on the palimpsest. I am not going to discuss how some historians are working tirelessly on that process. I would like to bring a simple but striking example here. From no less a personage than our prime minister himself.

In 2013, Narendra Modi promised the nation a humongous memorial for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It was Modi’s characteristic way of snatching history from the Congress. Gradually he would snatch almost everything from that Party – the last being the parliamentary membership of Rahul Gandhi.

Sardar Patel got his due anyway. No less than the world’s tallest statue which was completed in 2018. By 2018, however, Modi had built up his own image which was perhaps even more humongous than the world’s tallest statue. So he did not need Sardar Patel anymore. In 2021, he erased the name of Patel from the world’s largest stadium in Ahmedabad and renamed it Narendra Modi Stadium. The tradition of palimpsests did not end in the era of parchments.

When Modi came to watch the India-Australia cricket match in the Narendra Modi Stadium on 9 March 2023, he was accompanied by the Australian Prime Minister too. The hoardings all around showed Modi’s various faces. It was Modi everywhere. Even in the gift presented by BCCI to Modi: a portrait of Modi himself. It was all so ridiculously narcissistic that someone tweeted: “Narendra Modi’s friend’s son [Jay Shah] presenting Narendra Modi’s photo to Narendra Modi at the Narendra Modi Stadium.”

We learnt later from some of the media, that have not surrendered their courage yet, that the Stadium was filled with Modi bhakts on that day so that there would only be cheers for Modi and no voices or signs of dissent anywhere around. All the tickets were given to BJP members and Modi bhakts. Even Australian tourists in India did not get tickets. When Australia complained, a few tickets were made available for the tourists.

This is just the beginning. I am sure we will witness a lot more of the tallest Indian’s narcissism after the 2024 general elections.

Modi is not the only leader who named a stadium after himself. Mussolini did it in Italy though the Italians later renamed it and today it is called the Stadium of the Marbles.

Stalin, the dictator of Russia, too named a stadium after himself. And the Russians too erased his name later. Today that stadium is known as the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium.

Hitler too did it. But the World War prevented its completion.

In short, our Prime Minister has illustrious company in the art and craft of Palimpsests. 

PS. This post is part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

Previous Post: Octlantis

Coming up tomorrow: Quintin Matsys

Comments

  1. Never knew any of this.
    Coffee is on, and stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
    “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
    Both quotes from 1984 by George Orwell. The book is almost like a prophecy. Are we any better than the citizens of Oceania?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I presented 1984 a couple of days back with the same comparison...

      https://matheikal.blogspot.com/2023/04/nineteen-eighty-four.html?m=1

      Delete
  3. The truth of Palimpsests! Erased but not forggtten and how we wish some things had not been written at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Writing is inevitable. But we could be honest about it. After all, the posterity will get to the truth one way or another.

      Delete
  4. I think i should get started on increasing my patience. Because the wait for his comeuppance looks long at this point. Loved this post so much!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nehru's description of India was quite apt. Not surprising given the intellectual wealth he was bestowed with.
    What happened in the past might be to our liking or not. But no way we can erase that. What has happened has happened. We just need to accept and move on.
    I don't agree with this tendency to alter history to different people's likeness. This happens not just in India. Even in developed nations like the US and the UK. It shouldn't be done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a clear motive behind all the alterations and modifications. That motive is more alarming.

      Delete
  6. As much as I despise some of the political stances of Modi, I am.not an anti Modi person per se. But yes he is more of a crude businessman than a politician. But who is brave and capable enough to oppose him? Noone. That is the sad truth. And if we go deeper I feel Modi is just a presentable face. The reigns are with Amit Shah and Ajit Doval

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He won't allow anyone to emerge. See what's done to Kejriwal, Sisodia, and others. When we all begin to feel the dictatorship closer home, we will long for better days.

      Delete
  7. Hari OM
    Yes, all such people tupple - eventually. Meanwhile, the mess and trauma left in their trail must be endured... YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That mess and trauma have long lasting impacts. I'm astounded by the views of the young students on certain vital matters. Attitudes have been vitiated.

      Delete
  8. "In short, our Prime Minister has illustrious company in the art and craft of Palimpsests. "- Lovely post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rewriting history or trying to erase or change it, is all wrong. The pomp and show, well all political parties do that. I remember a time when everything was either indira gandhi or rajiv gandhi. Modi shows no remorse in doing so and that is what irks most people

    ReplyDelete

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