Amit Shandilya | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Did Aryabhata invent zero? Is Swastik a Hindu symbol? Who is the owner of Biryani? Did Algebra Originate in India? Who gave cotton to the Chinese?
cover of Don’t forward that text!
, Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Amit Shandilya’s new book don’t forward that text, (published by HarperCollins India) reminds us of TS Eliot’s famous lines, “A shadow lies between thought and reality”. Because, this book tears through the shadowy space between pre-conceived historical ideas and reality. As the authors say, the book attempts to translate the gray areas of history based solely on a “spirit of inquiry” and reliable resources.
“You have to see things as they are without value judgments and it’s non-negotiable. There’s no black and white, no heroes and villains, it doesn’t work like that. Bad people in life make good things happen.” And good people do bad things. This nuance must be respected,” the author adds firmly.
The book begins with a foreword by Devdutt Patnaik. The mythologist comments, “Through the haze of opinion, we have to work with facts, collecting them carefully and studying them comprehensively.”
Amit’s tweets are widely shared on Twitter – in each, he shares a tidbit of information packed with reliable data from history. Each tweet aims to highlight and shed light on historical events or features that have been misrepresented/misrepresented in untrustworthy WhatsApp forwards, emails and memes. His new book brings together these bits of information and delves deeper into events in history that have been largely misinterpreted or mistranslated.
In the book, the author questions whether Damascus steel was really from India, the origin of biryani, whether Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India, and more.
Amit believes that “there is a great responsibility on the writer because the reader reads what is written, so if your content reflects in your writing then it has an effect on the reader, so it is very important”.
Although the author has a background in computers and finance, he has written an audio series on Indian history called India Uncharted. With this book, Amit aims to make history as accessible and easy as storytelling.