Four centuries in its corners

A Sikh hunts for a lost ancestor in Japan. William Dalrymple seeks precious details about the last Mughal. Both find answers at the National Archives of India. Now, with a new director general at the helm, this repository of memory is trying even harder to tell you your history. We spent a day at the Archives  Sidin Vadukut

One day, around two years ago, a Sikh man walked into the research room at the National Archives of India in New Delhi. He sought out Jaya Ravindran, an archivist, and told her everything he knew about his paternal grandfather.

The gentleman hoped to persuade Ravindran to go on a historical wild-goose chase through the National Archives’ holdings.

Ravindran spends most working days in her office inside the research room in the National Archives’ annexe building. Situated in a little, rectangular, walled-off portion at one end of the research room, Ravindran’s office is furnished in a style that can only be called “post-liberalization government of India”. It is a melange of aluminium and formica and plastic, with files arranged in neat piles on the desk. There is a computer to one side, and beneath its monitor, there are some pictures of the Gilgit manuscripts from Kashmir.

“I am working on a brochure about the manuscripts,” Ravindran says. “They are also the oldest objects currently in the National Archives.” Ravindran, dressed in a blue sari and matching blouse, has the instant warmth of someone eager to answer questions and the frankness of someone who knows most of the answers.

Full report here Mint