Roma Shah writes – History shapes present,Europe impressions

On a recent trip to Italy, Greece and the UK , history and its role in shaping the present was manifestly clear.

Italy: che brutto o bello

Italy retains its fervent love and unparalleled competence in design, beauty and aesthetics, right on from Renaissance times till today. Its history, charm, exceptional beauty and its passion for aesthetics and beauty in every endeavor of life, be it apparel, architecture, sculpture, fabrics, food, all sorts of design, health and at a more superficial level the most fantastic complexions and skin sheen I have seen on people from across the world, is striking. You wonder how their towns, building and squares are so aesthetically perfect and even how small towns get the hues and tones on their houses so right- the combinations between house exterior colours , window panes and shutters is terrific- it could be termed aesthetic necessity. If there one thing Italians do exceedingly well its aesthetics. In Italy it is said ‘che brutto o bello’ , that something is beautiful or ugly not in moral terms that its good or bad. Coming back to complexion most of Europe has pretty good complexions but the Italians take their complexion to stratospheric levels perhaps due to their olive oil, wine and good climate.

Greece: disconnection with past!

Sometimes people may not consciously understand how history has shaped them, but I think by and large history shapes people and their thinking . Greece for instance is influenced by Islamic rule (ruled by the Ottomans -Turks at one time), and even their church as I understand (the Greek orthodox church is influenced by Byzantine). Greece was hence an amalgamation between a loose sort of Islamic / Byzantine and western civilization. Hence the qualities associated with the Protestant west- benign govts, unambiguous respect for the individual , an absolute belief in the worth of every being , that everyone is equal is somewhat less prevalent in Greece –the VIP /feudal culture that the Protestant West hardly has, is in more evidence in Greece. Greece was a slight disappointment because it would seem that there is very little connection to its past-there are the ancient sites which are beautiful in terms of the grace and beauty of its architecture but modern Greece has hardly any architectural excellence save the islands which are charming.

U.K: authority subjected to scrutiny

The UK still remembers its history and to me are pretty much the same people, in terms of their cherished values of liberty, accountability, fairness, decency, irreverence etc . And in UK where the Magna carta had its roots, still ensures that a culture of robust democracy and accountability is still powerfully embedded in the British . In India as Pavan Verma observes in his book, ‘The great Indian middle class’ , India is a democracy but Indians are generally not of democratic temperament. We are deferential to power –for e.g. the ruling Gandhis are hardly subjected to any questioning, and most people have to be reverential to bureaucrats and politicians in India. Whereas in the UK, the political class is generally far more polite and helpful .Even the USA is more deferential to its President than the British are to their Prime Minister. The British in the words of Margaret Thatcher, have “characters (people) so obstinate to right wrongs. They are rugged, angular individualists… people referred to as ‘difficult customer’, ‘one of a kind’ or a dammed nuisance “.These are the reasons according to her, why robust democracy and the rule of law survive in the UK and later in the other English speaking worlds. Every day on British TV and papers you are struck by the level of scrutiny all those in authority are subjected to. Besides the British also have a fairly high sense of decency, are generally benign , charming and possess a fine sense of wit. All this makes them rather endearing.

India: little sense of history

As for India, going by poll 2009 it would seem that a rapture with history is quite true , as the majority has forgotten the Islamic invasion and do not consider terror a big threat. Also as generally known, most Hindus have little sense of history. In fact majority India has gone back to its distorted hindu ethos, by not going for transformational govts, or not thinking too rigorously and going for gimmicks, or accepting mediocre macro- environments/ govt (Congress ).

In other words as Naipaul said, Indians went back to the idea of being detached from the physical environment

Germany: 6 years school of music

Germany . It could be that it may have gone back to its pre-Hitler past of Beethoven and Geothe etc. In winter in Bombay , the most and widest range of classical music orchestras descend from Germany to perform at the NCPA . Classical music is alive and well in Germany despite the worldwide phenomenon of dumbing down. Any major German govt celebration begins with live classical music. Only in Germany you find one city has 2 major orchestras, for e.g.: Leipzig has the renowned Gewandhaus and another orchestra. Then they have an orchestras consisting of full time doctors , and it’s the only European country that does music for 6 yrs in school. That’s why it could be that they may have gone to its past of Bismarck & Beethoven etc- could it be that the war phase and those associated aggressive attributes were not intrinsically German?