The practice of history is a battle against forgetting. The creation of digital or citizen archive on specific histories with a small ‘h’ is an important intervention in the landscape of temporary memories. Millions of Asians have worked in the Gulf, and some communities such as Kutchi Banias have been there for centuries. Why are there no repository of stories and artefacts to remember these lives?
Hardik H. Ramaiya Bhai (a third generation Bania in Muscat) and me are trying to do something small in this regard by helping create the Omani Bania Archive before the memory gets lost in to the black box of itehaas or tarikh.
Or the Malayali Doctors and Nurses who help built the healthcare system in the Gulf? We are not unique, as the Egyptians and Palestinians have done more than us.
Change Thinker 