Looks like the word 'history' is taken widely today to mean only short term chronicles !!
Yes, chronicles. That is where all our prime ministers and presidents will be relegated to in the very long run. None among them (save perhaps Nehru and Indira Gandhi to a limited extent; if only due to the sheer length of time they were in power and also due to the fact that the Indian republic was very young in their time and so would always be 'historical' when seen from a point far into the future) would secure anything more than a mere mention in the footnotes of history books, if at all.
In 60 years of independence, we have already had 13 prime ministers and in 200 years, this number could swell to 50 or more (especially since the polity has become more and more fragmented and political musical chairs can become more frequent than it is today).
Seen against this sobering backdrop, the thinly veiled pretensions of our prime ministers (and also those like Mr. Advani who keep on salivating in eager expectation to become PMs) to claim places in history that compare in presence with those of Ashoka, Chandragupta or Akbar are comical, to say the least.
200 years hereon, a school student may remember the above named monarchs with vivid ease (as students through the ages might have done) but very likely would draw a blank if someone were to mention a certain 'Nehru'.
