Suppress ego to write biography: Ramachandra Guha -Governance Now

Suppress ego to write biography: Ramachandra Guha

Guha said history oscillates between social sciences and literature

GN Bureau | February 24, 2017

#history #biography #Ramchandra Guha #India news

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha has listed reasons on why historical biographies never took off in a big way in India.

Delivering the annual lecture at Sahitya Akademi’s Festival of Letters in New Delhi on Thursday, Guha said that historical biography is that part of history which is more allied to literature than any other parts of history. “History oscillates between social sciences and literature,” he said.

Here are his reasons on why Indian historians refrain from writing biographies.

• The burden of religious inheritance. Religions such as Hinduism are inimical to writing a biography due to its inherent belief system based on karma and rebirth.

• Scholarly inheritance, especially Marxism since Marxism diminishes the importance of the individual.

• History’s tilt towards social sciences, though history began as a branch of literature.

• Indians’ indifference to record keeping. The archives in the country, central and state, are in complete disarray.

• Indians are diffident on writing biographies for the fear of offending eminent individual.

• Biography is a challenging literary form.

• Writing of biography requires writers and scholars to suppress their own egos and write about another writer with an equally big ego.

Guha explained how anthropologist Verrier Elwin’s life and works transformed him and his critical outlook. He illustrated the challenges of writing a biography through his attempts to write a biography of Verrier Elwin. He observed that while historical biography is an underdeveloped field and challenging, young scholars should tell their stories since historical biography in India is on the rise and in the coming years we are likely to see more number of historical biographies.

Comments

Other News

Capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore for defence forces cleared

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, on Monday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), that is, in-principle administrative approval to various acquisition proposals of the defence forces at an estimated cost of about Rs 1,10,000 crore.

How Rafi, Raj Kapoor helped pave the way for a great uranium deal

There`s a certain moment in diplomacy that`s too personal to be captured in a communiqué, too small to make the front page, but more revealing than the front page. This week, prime minister Narendra Modi reached Tashkent and, amid the pomp of state visits, managed to evoke the old Bollywood tunes

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq