PUDUCHERRY: History looks very different from the coast than it does from inland. In a talk to the students and teachers of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education in Puducherry on Sunday morning, economist, revisionist historian and best-selling author Sanjeev Sanyal talked about this difference of perspective at a discussion on his latest book 'The Ocean of Churn'.Describing this difference of view point, he said the legend of Ashoka sounds very different when looked at from an Odiya perspective. Demolishing the myth of Ashoka as an icon of passifism, he said, "There is no evidence to suggest that Ashoka became a Buddhist after the war in Kalinga or that he eschewed violence altogether since then. He was undoubtedly a Buddhist but it was a political decision." It was because of the prevailing undercurrents in the Mauriyan court, given that his grandfather was a Jain and one of his brothers was Ajivika.Sanyal said the repositioning of Ashoka was a "20th century phenomenon".The Indologists who rediscovered him were understandably looking to establish him as a major historical figure but it was "Nehru who adopted him and turned him into a modern Indian mascot". This ancient Indian emperor, said Sanyal, fitted into Nehru's "socialist model of a nanny state, as patriarchal as it can get". Nehru was looking for a lineage to link up to India's ancient heritage and "Chandragupta Maurya or Chanakya were not terribly good role models". Ashoka and the Sarnath lions offered Nehru that connection and continuity with the past, he said.Interestingly, Sanyal added that the growling lions of Sarnath - now the emblem of the Indian state - have nothing to do with Buddhism. "It's about establishing the power of the Mauryian state which is what it was used for in independent India as well," said Sanyal. "It may not even have been built by Ashoka - he could have simply used an existing structure which is what he did with many of his edits," he added.This retelling of history and joining the dots is something Sanyal focused on all through his more-than-hour-long talk.

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