About

Anuroop Tantry

I’m sure you read through the introduction in the home page. About myself, I was born in Mangaluru, Karnataka; brought up and raised in Dubai, UAE till I turned 11. Bengaluru has been my home since then. My interest in history started as a fascination towards the past or (specifically) ‘Pre-Modern’ in the conventional sense of the term. The much needed transformation from ‘fascination’ to ‘informed interest/passion’ happened during my undergraduate studies where I got an opportunity to study academic history under a brilliant professor.

I am currently looking to pursue my doctoral studies in History. This blog reflects my gradually developing historical sense, since the time I seriously began reading about history during my under graduation. There will always be an impulse to delete the older articles where my historical/writing sensibilities were crude; but as I mentioned in the homepage, ‘they tell a history of their own‘; and perhaps this is going to hold me back from doing so.

I am an avid reader of history, philosophy and literature. My beliefs on maintaining rigorous academic standards when it comes to historical research/narratives has always been steadfast.

Popular narratives on history are often high on emotions. History inevitably is connected to the identities of the people; hence a critical view of the past is often going to evoke a cold response. The critical method is not about vicious attacks on ‘our’ heritage; but is standing on (or at least believes to stand on) the foundations of scientific inquiry and epistemology. The challenge appears when the historian weaves narratives by dwelling on these emotions and looks at the past via historically contingent entities like ‘Identity’. The historical method relies on interrogation of the source with an unwavering passion. Interference of identity issues/emotions often narrow down our vision of the past.

While this is my general stand; I sincerely believe that readers directly access my articles before they read this up. From the perspective of the popular discourse which brands viewpoints (and narratives in general), into binaries of ‘left and right wing’; I might appear as the usual ‘liberandu’ 🙂

But I have always believed, wisdom and, perhaps a ‘real picture’ can be seen while sensibly treading through the grey area.

Cheers!