Who are some underrated people in history?
I was born in a nuclear family and saw nuclear families around, with everyone’s grandparents visiting once in a while and also some other relatives as well. But none of us children were really truly aware of the extent or depth of our extendedly families till we began to develop a particular form of understanding of life.
Our grandparents on the other hand enjoyed a joint family system in their lives. They learned to do quite a bit, quite earlier in life. Their experience of life was completely different from ours. So, one thing that I presume was a bit common in joint families back then was that there was a particular profession or interest that was generally picked up by most members of the family. For example, my maternal grandfather was a journalist and there were several others who were journalists as well.
I tried to find a similar pattern in my maternal grandmother’s house. I couldn’t find one at first until I overheard that one of my maternal grandmother’s elder sisters received a freedom fighter allowance. There it was, the pattern, my grandmother’s brothers were also part of it. I would have never known if the right words hadn’t flown my way. I always knew, one person can bring in a great idea or guidance but it takes the effort of many to achieve it.
It would be like a list with no end, if one did sit to write down a list of underrated people in history. The world is far bigger than a few highlighted people, there are many that have gone unsung. There were some who might have wanted to go down in history but there were many living their lives like anybody else, content and happy with what life they had lived and it wasn’t until someone said something about them that things came to light. When it comes to our history, even all the information on the internet will surely fail to do justice to all that has occurred and all those who were involved.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 