QISSA TARIKH KA
SURUCHI KUMARI (IIND Year, Miranda House)
Udte parindon ka jo aasman se rishta hai
Raahi ke har raahgir ka, usse aisa hi rishta hai
Jo ye kahe chal kahin
Jo yeh bikhri hai..
Khamoshi ki chadar…
Guftagoo kar isko sametli jaaye..
Chal kahin..
Kuch main banoon teri zameen sa..
Kuch tum ban jana mere aasman si
Phir ek hokar hum ‘Raahi ke Raahgir’ ban jayein
This is the spirit that every Raahi member holds in their heart.
Tracing the history of Tarikh, the annual fest of the History Department, Miranda House is an insurmountable journey with it being so diverse and multifaceted, yet an attempt is being made here. Usually Tarikh consists of a set of events including seminars, lecture demonstrations, paper presentations, panel discussions, heritage walks, and cultural performances designed around a decided theme but not limited to just these. The history of Tarikh can be traced back to the early 1990’s, when it was inaugurated first with a soulful qawwali performance involving the students and the faculty, which still reverberates in the hearts of people. The department faculty and the students union have been at the core of the planning and coordination of Tarikh. Tarikh has caught the attention of not just students from our college but colleges across the country with its uniquely designed set of events.
Let’s move a little further in time and talk about Tarikh 2016. The theme for which was, “State, Society and Construction of Labels”. As per the theme, we had a panel discussion on “Interrogating labels” with Professor Radhika Singha and Dr. Charu Gupta, chaired by Dr. Prathama Banerjee. On day 2, the movie, “Khusrau, Darya Prem ka” was screened followed by a discussion with the film maker, Yousuf Saeed. Tarikh 2017 was even more invigorating where students interacted with eminent historians Professor Romila Thapar and Professor Kumkum Roy for a discussion on ‘The Many Meanings of Heritage’.
We know that what has today become a past happening has been lived by the people of the time. What we remember faintly today has been in existence for a considerable period of time and in many ways the legacy continues. With this, let’s move ahead and talk about Tarikh 2018. The theme for Tarikh 2018 was, “Placing Carnations into Rifle Muzzles: Resistance Without Arms”. On day 1 we had two events, one a seminar by Raman Magsaysay Awardee Ravish Kumar and Professor Apoorvanand” and “Dastangoi”, where a popular story by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, “Mahesh” was performed by Nadeem Shah Suhrawardy. Day 2 events started with students’ paper presentations on the selected theme. The last event we had as part of Tarikh 2018 was a coversation with Sunil Kumar and Sohail Hashmi on, Communalising the Past, moderated by Amar Farooqi. We are all influenced by what’s happening around us, the theme for Tarikh 2019 was similarly influenced by the happenings of that year. 2019 was a year which saw some of the most-prolonged protests and there were attempts to erase parts of history and play with their visibility. The theme for 2019 was “Imagining Space in History” wherein an attempt was made to relook at the utilisation or marginalisation of spaces. Tarikh commenced with the event, “Revisiting the History of Capital: Beyond Provincial ‘Transition’ Debate” by Aditya Nigam while Professor Sanghamitra Misra spoke about Political Economy and the state: staging and Embedding Space. In the afternoon we had a classical music performance by the renowned artist Vidya Rao in the Heritage Hall.
On day 2 we had the screening of the documentary “Ek Inquilab Aur Aaya” followed by an interaction with the director of the documentary, Professor Uma Chakravarti. Paper Presentation Student Panel discussion on “Gender and Sexuality” and “on The art of Propaganda”, to let students voice their views. How can a fest be complete without some fun events ? We had an open mic to let the students showcase their artistic abilities and a meme making competition was organised wherein students had to send original memes related to history.
Coming back to the present decade, let’s talk about Tarikh 2020. The theme for Tarikh 2020 was Migration and Diaspora. Tarikh has always been a way through which students engage with history and heritage at a greater level, true for 2020 as well. Along with complementing the classroom learning of students by way of interactions with eminent scholars and historians, Tarikh has taken academic history out of books and journals to the common folk. Tarikh 2020 began with a heritage walk to Sultan Ghari’s tomb curated by acclaimed historian Swapna Liddle under the banner of Raahi, the Heritage Walk Society of Miranda House. Raahi has been integral to Tarikh and its organisation from its very inception in 2016.
On day 1, two events were scheduled, a paper presentation on the selected theme, “Migration and Diaspora” and Poetry of Resistance, a slam poetry competition. Professor Neeladri Bhattacharya, professor Kumkum Roy, Dr. Rinku Pegu and Dr. Honey Oberoi Vahali were the panellists for the seminar on “Migration and Diaspora” which was held on 19th February, 2020. In the evening, the Heritage Hall witnessed a magical performance by Madan Gopal Singh and Chaar Yaar as Tarikh 2020 drew towards its close with the last event, “Music of Journeys”.
Tarikh 2021 was unconventional because we were faced by the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. The settings changed from papers and lectures being presented in the Seminar Hall to zoom meets in which scholars held talks from their residence. Even cultural events were brought to us via the internet. The theme for Tarikh 2021 was Pluralism, Accommodation and Contestations.” A Conversation with Dr. Ramachandra Guha ” set the ball rolling. On April 7, we had the event of “Paper Presentation ”, with Dr. Priyanka Khanna, Assistant Professor at G D Goenka University and M. K Venu, the founding editor of The Wire, as the judges of the event.
The evening of 2021, April 7 is still afresh in the minds of those who heard the powerful words of Jalees Hyder, “Pen is the heaviest thing to exist, for it carries with it millions of years of history”. Along with Jalees Hyder, Rumuz and Syed Murad Gilani were the other guests for “Mehfil-i-Shu’ara ”, a slam poetry session. The event “Shadow Tales; A Fabled Reveal”, organised under the banner of Raahi was a Tholppavakoothu shadow puppetry performance by Padma Shri awardee “Ramachandra Pulavar and his team”, which captured the audience. Tarikh 2021 drew towards its close with the event, “Nrityer Taale Taale: In the Rhythm of Dance”, a lecture demonstration by Dr. Satabdi Acharyya on Gaudiya Nritya, the classical dance form of Bengal, once again organised by Team Raahi. Raahi through its cultural performances took the celebration of history and heritage, took “Tarikh” to yet another level, giving back loads of knowledge and memories to its audience, leaving them in awe and amazement. In all these years the word Tarikh has taken on a life of its own.
Are you excited for what Tarikh 2022 holds for you ?
Well you must be, and rest assured this Tarikh will be even more fun, intriguing and captivating. We have a diverse range of events from India and abroad in store for you. You will witness storytelling, musical performances, talks on biographies, historical fiction and a lot more. We are delighted to announce our official partner for Tarikh 22, Live History India, a first-of-its-kind multimedia platform on India’s history and rich cultural heritage. They have an extensive audience and reach to almost 3 million people each month, creating an impact on people across the world. Through LHI’s History Shop, Peepul Tree, you can also access some of India’s famed arts. Check out their social media handles and engage with their quality content curated by leading experts and historians from round the globe.
Tune in to our social media handles to get all the latest updates for Tarikh 22.
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