History as a Subject

How many of you would like to differ with this statement: 'I HATE History' ? Not many, I guess. Maybe a few will. But, only a few. The rest of us will surely want to scream even x years after school that we HATE history. I remember my history-studying years in school: I'd never, never think of touching my History book; let alone studying. Every history examination, every single one of them would give me heebee jeebies, and I'd feel as if I was eating dirt when I had to study the subject. The evening before every history exam, I'd have a crying session, around 30 mins, when I'd just remain quiet and feel the tides coming out of my eyes, eventually inundating my face. I'd refuse to look at anybody, but would make sure I was giving sly glances at my elder brother because he would help me with every other subject. But he wouldn't budge when it came to History. Finally, I'd howl, simply because I dreaded not being able to remember when Alexander had become the king, or how many gates the Sanchi Stupa has, and because I'd feel extremely unprepared. To confirm, this would happen only with History. Eventually, my mom would come to my rescue. She would console me, and read out every single sentence to me. Every single sentence from every chapter! I'd just follow her once and by some cosmic grace, I'd be well prepared in just a few hours. To answer follow-up questions in your mind, I would invariably score the highest in the subject.

Now I wonder, what was it about the subject that I dreaded (read 'hated') most? I also tried to figure out if I was the only one to feel this way or were there other folks too. Thankfully, I was happy to know there were lots of people like me out there who disliked the subject. Yes, lots of them. When I take a deep dive into why I hated it, I realize there were quite a few factors:
1. As a kid, I really didnt want to read about kings and their administrative system and their caste system and their financial system and their architectural abilities and strategic moves because I never realized what good came to me of it.
2. Though the books fed me with all kinds of dimensions of the domes, the gates, the stairs, the shapes of the temples, I could never visualize the architecture of temples and the innumerable structures built. Somehow I couldnt.
3. The only focus of studying history was because it was a subject set by ICSE, CBSE, State boards etc etc. Never was the beauty of the past highlighted. I knew about the security setup of Ashoka, but could never identify with the wars he fought, or why all of a sudden he despised the battlefield.

What I strongly feel about the subject now is that its not just a subject. Its a beautiful yarn that can be woven quite well, and quite beautifully. Id love it if my teachers would've not really opened the book and read para by para but told me in a story-like manner how Akbar or Jahangir fought battles, how Buddha attained Nirvana, or why Bahadur Shah Zafar wasnt as strong a Mughal ruler like his predecessors. Rather than being forced to gulp down these from pages in a book, had the education system been such that these were told in the form of stories, I'm sure a lot of students would love this subject.

In addition, rather than mentioning that the Mughal architecture had x, y, z kind of structures, a real field excursion will definitely help students in understanding the architectural styles of empires. Who would want to read about the dimensions of the Buland Darwaza, but show this lofty structure to students and tell them why it was built and why it was so called, and I'm sure the visual appeal will help students remember details. I mean taking students out for excursions to some of the most imposing and living structures and explaining the who's and the why's to them instead of asking them to learn by rote. Keeping the financial factor aside, I wonder how much the 'concept' schools of today think of how to better the education strategies.

BTW, just to let you all know, my mom has a Masters in Indian History. :)