THE IMPORTANCE OF GEN Z’S CONNECTION WITH HISTORY & CULTURE

W hen one hears the words History and Culture, the first few images that might come to mind are of thick academic books, dry facts, and hard-to-remember names of kings and queens. And that’s how we’ve been taught to perceive history. It is a deception of the highest order.

If history is defined and restricted to verbose discussions and drab debates, only a small portion of the Genz Population will cultivate an interest in it. But the horizon of history expands well beyond kingdoms, empires and war. From our culinary habits to our fashion, from the sports we play to the music we listen to, all have evolved throughout history, with an interesting story behind each of them.

A GenZ might not be interested in knowing the genealogy of Mughal queens, but they sure might be fascinated to know that the charismatic leader of the rock band Queens, Freddie Mercury, was born as Farrokh Bulsara, in Zanzibar, to a Parsi couple from West India.

The story of Farrokh Bulsara becoming Freddie Mercury is history too!

There is a joke in professional circles which goes, “A history degree is useless because there’s no future in it.” But someone who understands history might argue otherwise.

The purpose of recording history is to ensure the records of the past survive in the future. Humans have passed on their culture, identity, traditions, and customs, generation after generation through practice and stories. History is the carrier of markers that defines identity.

For a generation that went from VCR to VR quickly, it becomes pertinent to understand where we come from. Today we live in a constant influx of information, opinions, reels and memes. In this world, it is easy to experience a sense of loss of identity. GenZ currently shoulders the responsibility of pushing the human race forward towards excellence. However, if in their pursuit of excellence history and culture are marginalised, there’s no doubt that we will be in the grips of collective amnesia and loss of identity.

Those who run towards the future should know where they have come from. Or else they’ll find themselves lost in the temporal landscape without a past and an identity.