The History Trauma

By Ayesha Ahmad

"Austria- Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing against Austria-Hungary,declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan made an entry which was followed by the association of United States of America and Italy on the side of the allies- one of the many root causes of world war I."


Messy, tangled and mind-numbingly tedious. Yes everybody, welcome to the exclusive classes of European History in the art's department of Karachi University.

After ending up with a 'D' in General History in the GCE O-level exam, I still ventured to opt for History ( read: European History) as one of my subsidiaries. Why? Oh, that is just because English timings did not suit me, IR had nothing of my interest and since two out of the only five of my so-called-friends then in the university were going for it, I thought I should too. And that, I did. But hey those were the bygone days and as the writer Nargis Dalal says, "present moment, only moment."

So, every Thursday and Friday, only if my lazy phase subsides and I feel that I have had a good night's sleep, I make an effort to come to the university 'just' to attend the dull, monotonous, boring, lifeless, uninteresting, annoying, drama-lacking (wondering if such a word exists) and draggy European History classes.

Located right across the Sindhi department in the thick of many lofty, shady palm trees lies a spacious and a well-ventilated room dedicated solely to the handful of 'spirited' students (precisely 5 pupils in my batch) . This particular class stands out from all the other classes. It does not only have its own peculiar aura but the presence of the variety of different maps of Europe in various sizes and shapes in its ambience definitely makes this room rather prominent and distinct.

Yeah, so every or no, every other Thursday and Friday, I step my foot in usually room no. 4 at around ten-ish, that is, if the teacher is present and make sure to grab the desk which guarantees me the most protection from the teacher's sight. But teachers will be teachers of course (sigh), therefore, I'm more than often either caught day-dreaming, snoozing or being unanswerable to a senseless question thrusted upon me. Even worse is the fact that sitting between Sidra and Tehmina (the two friends of mine whom I had mentioned earlier), who supposedly are the class geeks, I feel like an ultimate idiot possessing a mindless brain which seemingly appears to be good for nothing. Simply put, History classes are dreadful and I absolutely hate taking them.

However, despite all the hatred and the confusion, I always manage to pull the highest or the second-highest grade in every quiz, mid-term and the term examination, that is, if I manage to beat Tehmina. How ironic! But here i would like to pay immense gratitude to Tehmina's notes, which make me familar with the course, and Sidra's incessant text messages which keep reminding me to study at each and every hour. Seriously, without these wonderful people, I wouldn't have managed to reach the last semester of this hideous subject.

Unfortunately, this December, I will have to appear twice for this course's terminal's examinations as I did not bother to study for the exams last year. The course is very lengthy and there is certainly a lot to study but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

P.S. please say a silent prayer for me after reading this as im in great need of luck.