As firefighters worked to douse the flames and save the 850-year old Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, people gathered around the engulfed iconic French monument, keeping vigil, praying and hoping that it would be saved. Saving the Notre-Dame became somewhat synonymous with saving a piece of French national identity. The fire at Notre-Dame made it to the pages of newspaper and news channels across the world and struck a chord in India as well. In a globalised world, sharing this moment does not seem odd. What is perhaps odd is the fact that a devastating fire at the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, also a Unesco World Heritage site, a little more than a year ago was but a blip on the Indian radar. Why did the fire at the Meenakshi Temple not evoke passion and bring Indians together the way the Notre-Dame managed to galvanise the French? The question raised by Reshmi R Dasgupta in her blog is important. The answer perhaps lies in our flawed sense of historical identity, transcending identities of caste, region, language, faith and ethnicity. Blame past social schism, the colonial experience, attempts to produce an anodyne narrative of history in school textbooks that shy away from causing possible offence at the expense of acquaintance with reality. Indians must embrace their rich and complex history. It is unlikely to be neat and simple, there will be competing views, but in accepting the differing views, we will be able to put together a history that is reflective of the diversity that is India. But, more importantly, it will be a history with which every Indian will be able to relate. Especially if the reality of the present is one of shared well-being and participation in building and nurturing individual and collective futures of prosperity.