Daily Times

“No, I am not accompanying you there; once you step out of Karachi the only thing that would greet you is Sindhi dacoits,” scoffed a loved one years ago when I showed an inclination towards visiting the ruins of Mohenjo Daro. Seeing the historic site has always been on my bucket list, but getting there is like an exhaustive crusade in itself, making it not so visitor friendly.

Most people have read about the Indus Valley Civilisation in school, and the one thing everyone seems to recall instantly having read about is their sewage and drainage system. I suppose that as the years went by we unlearned our bathroom manners, and spoiled our civic sense of hygiene, one century at a time, and hence the awe. On August 12 we will be able to witness a fictionalised story set in this ancient city in the film Mohenjo Daro, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, the filmmaker behind the hugely popular Lagaan. So far lengthy and often boring documentaries have captured the splendour of the ruins, and the commentary mostly centred around the systematic appeal of Mohenjo Daro.

Besides this bland narrative, we know little about the life of its inhabitants; most Pakistanis only acknowledge the civilisation from almost 5,000 years ago but do not wear it as a badge of pride. The sense of ownership is clearly missing; maybe, it has to do with its “non-Islamic” reality, the excavated figurines that depict nude women, idol worship of the River Indus (known as Sindhu in those days), or its shared heritage with India. Or perhaps it is the fact our current social civilisation is a complete mess in comparison, causing embarrassment so we shove Mohenjo Daro aside. We keep it framed in dusty history books, and lock away its artifacts in museums giving it a dull, drab feel. Lately, the youth have been mentioning the ancient city whenever they have wanted to age-shame the ex-chief minister of Sindh, Qaim ali Shah. Making it a part of mockery appears to be the only relationship the young ones share with this place of grand historical importance.

The upcoming Hindi film starring Hrithik Roshan opposite the debutant, Pooja Hegde, shall fill this old world with colours and imagery for us to hold on to, making it a reference point of sorts. How accurate it will be remains to be seen, but having human stories, albeit fictionalised, attached to Mohenjo Daro, will give it a sentimental texture, making it somewhat come to life.
There are no decipherable records from those times, and their daily life can only be imagined from excavations carried out so far. Mohenjo Daro was discovered by accident in the early 1920s; the city was buried under a Buddhist stupa that stood watching over the Indus River. The highly urbanised centre with a citadel and lower city portions seems to have been built seven times, one on top of the other, possibly after being destroyed by floods each time.

Mohenjo Daro or even Harappa could have been our Pyramid of Giza, our Taj Mahal or any other man-made wonder of the world. The poorly developed tourism industry of Pakistan has ensured that it remains an isolated site, and for this all governments since the inception of Pakistan are responsible. Yes, there is an airport and a train station there, but what goes into building a thriving place of touristic interest is infusing life into its surrounding areas, making it appear inviting to outsiders. Mohenjo Daro lacks the buzz. Plenty of hotels, promotional work, storytellers encouraged to imagine tales when it was thriving, adequate security measures and further archaeological work would have made it a boon for the economy, besides providing job opportunities for many.

It is always exciting to imagine lives of people who lived on the land we claim to be ours, making man-made nations appear like child’s play in the pages of history. One wonders about the kind of aspirations citizens of Mohenjo Daro had, their family structure, their favourite foods. So many questions fill the mind; archaeologists have some answers, many theories, yet a lot of work remains to be done to understand the mindset of the people who revered their Indus River so much.

One wishes that the director of the upcoming film Mohenjo Daro had actually visited the site to get a feel of things, but perhaps the chaotic visa procedures kept him away. For now, Mohenjo Daro seems to laugh at our incompetence every night: our inability to cherish and preserve our past, the current lacklustre governance of people, and the clumsy attitude towards designing and fortifying the future for upcoming generations.

The writer is a freelance columnist with a degree in Cultural Studies and a passion for social observation, especially all things South Asian. She tweets @chainacoffeemug