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What did the Harappans eat? Bengaluru-based collective launches video series on food habits, history of ancient Indians
The first two videos released on the collective's YouTube channel, Historically Tempered, deal with the diet of the Harappans and early Indians in general, featuring speakers such as archaeologists Jaya Menon and Supriya Varma, and historian Romila Thapar.
Videos released on YouTube channel, Historically Tempered, examine the various ways in which ancient diets are known today, from burnt seeds and fish bones from the Harappan age to the types of food that would have been easily eaten in ancient dishes. (A thumbnail image of the educational video)
The Bengaluru-based Historically Tempered Collective officially launched the first two videos in a 15-part educational series ‘Thali by Thali’ at Sabha Bengaluru this Tuesday. The collective is composed of historian Janaki Nair, writer Saisudha Acharya, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Bengaluru convenor Meera Iyer, and history teacher Ajay Cadambi.
The first two videos released on the collective’s YouTube channel, known as Historically Tempered, deal with the diet of the Harappans and early Indians in general, featuring speakers such as archaeologists Jaya Menon and Supriya Varma, and historian Romila Thapar.
With the aid of animations and artwork, the video series makes it accessible to all age groups. It examines the various ways in which ancient diets are known today, from burnt seeds and fish bones from Harappa to the types of food that would have been easily eaten in ancient dishes.
In a panel discussion on Tuesday, which also saw the preview of another video in the series dedicated to ancient foods in South India, Janaki Nair said, “There is in our public life a cacophony of claims and counterclaims about history. We are entering this field to shift the discourse slightly and say there are aspects of history that need to be understood by youngsters in particular. There have been 40-50 years of very good research on the social and cultural history of India that is rarely reflected in more popular sources and textbooks.”
Nair added that it was also important to communicate to younger audiences that historians did not necessarily have answers for everything. She said, “The important point that we want to make is that history is an argument about the past, and we are emphasising the interpretative part of history – not interpretative through mythologising history but anchored in actual evidentiary protocols.”
INTACH Bengaluru convenor Meera Iyer, who was amongst the other speakers at the event, said, “When we deal with schools or the public in heritage walks, etc, people say that history is so boring and full of dates, and yet if you open the papers today, it is all about history. The major issues consuming people are about history. So it is really important for people to understand how to think about this subject.”
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