Srinagar, July 5 -- Identity is often built upon history, but history itself is rarely a single, clear story. Every individual, community, nation, religion, and culture looks to the past to explain who they are, where they came from, and why they belong. Yet this raises a difficult question: Where does one begin their history?

Should a person begin with the century in which their ancestors first settled in a region? Should they begin with a great ruler who shaped their culture? Should they trace their origins to a kingdom, a nation, a continent, a faith, or a sacred narrative? The answer is rarely simple, because history offers countless starting points, each leading to a different understanding of identity.

A person born today can clai...