History is part of a bigger group of subjects known as Social Science. Social Science helps us understand the working
of our social world. Most parts of Social Science other than history tell you about the world in the present. History
will help you understand how this present evolved. It will tell you about past of the present.
When we live in a society, we become used to the world around us. We begin to take that world for granted. We forget
that life was not always the way we see it. Can you, for instance, imagine a life without fire?? Can you think of what
it is to live in a society where cultivation of crops was unknown?? Or, what it was to live at a time when road and railways
did not exist, and yet people travelled long distances?? History can take us into these pasts.
History in this sense is an adventure. It is a journey across time and space. It transports us into another world, another
age, in which people lived differently. Their economy and society, their belifs and faiths, their clothes and food, their
settlements and buildings, their arts and crafts-- everything was different. History can open doors into such worlds.
History is not just about past. It is about the present. The society we live in has been fashioned by those who came
before us. The joys and sorrows of their daily lives, their attempt to grapple with the problems of their time, their discoveries
and inventions, slowly transformed human societies. These changes were often si gradual, so seemingly small, that their impact
was not noticed by people at that time. Only later, when we return to the past, when we study history, can we see how these
chages happened, and we can observe their long-term effect. By reading history we can understand how the modern world has
emerged over long centuries of development.
Studying history can help us understand more than the past. It enables us to develop important skills and qualities.
When we try and enter another world, we have to learn how to do this- to understand people whose lives were different. As
we do this, we open our minds and break out of our small present-day worlds. We begin to see how other people may think and
act. This can become a learning experience that enriches us in many different ways.
So, before your shrug your shoulders, ask yourself one question: Do I want to know who i am?? Do I want to understand
how this socity works?? Do I want to understand the world in which i live?? If you do, then you will need to know how our
societies have evolved. And how our pasts have shaped the present.
