Author and historian Manu S. Pillai signs his book at The Hindu Lit for Life Dialogue 2025 in Hyderabad on Friday. | Photo credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR
The past is always present. Each generation makes sense of the present by referencing history – whether in the recent parliamentary debate on the ‘mutilation’ of Vande Mataram, the daily ‘WhatsAppification’ of history or the emotional response of communities on social media.
At the Hindu Lit for Life Dialogue 2025, at ITC Kakatiya’s home Hyder Mahal here, author and historian Manu S. Pillai spoke to literary and cultural journalist Nandini Nair. The session titled “History as a Battleground: India’s Past in the Present” required additional chairs.
Mr Pillai believes that established writers “in times like this” need to be responsible and not give in to the pressures – the only way to preserve space for emerging writers.
According to him, the past – and how much we remember it – plays an important role for individuals, societies and political parties in shaping themselves. For him, as he recalled his father’s time, his grandmother’s stories, local lore in his home in Thiruvananthapuram, and archives that reveal comedy in history and the discovery of new interpretations, emotional texture is essential to a full understanding of history, and not just references to dates.
When asked how history is used as a weapon today, he noted that no historian can claim to have found the absolute truth. “History is about connecting 20 dots – sensibly, intelligently and in a well-thought-out way. And not everyone interprets it the same way; it can be ideological, through the female or male perspective,” he said.
Interested in studying the subversion of power dynamics, Mr. Pillai also discussed how the British introduced English and appropriated it in the country; the resilience of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, depicted in his book The Ivory Throne; and the story of Princess Sita Devi of Pithapuram, who converted to Islam to annul her Hindu marriage and marry Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda.
Asked by the audience which political party “uses history most effectively and dangerously”, Mr Pillai noted that there was no exception. “There were books about Nehru’s childhood as if there were content now. But the question is how much and how much shame. There is a creative game being played with history these days that is deliberate and not random – to be malicious, vengeful, to confuse people and to some extent create distrust of expertise so that people think that historians have an agenda.”
When asked again whether people revert to earlier views, he concluded: “Human stupidity keeps repeating itself – repeating the same mistakes and patterns – from past to past.
Published – 12 Dec 2025 21:51 IST
