India, June 21 -- As Bharat steps confidently into its Amrit Kaal by working towards the idea of Viksit Bharat, it is imperative to reflect on how Bharat and Bhartiya remember and record their past. In a country that has long relied on Shruti (which is heard) and Smriti (which is remembered), it is both ironic and tragic that our higher education institutions (HEIs) have no Oral History departments. The same land where stories flowed across generations through songs, legends, temples, and educational discourses now relies almost solely on textual records, most of which were shaped not by us but by colonial hands. Furthermore, the Western civilisations that lacked vast oral traditions of their own have ironically taken the lead in institut...