Before the Ruins: A Day in the Indus valley 2500 BCE- Part 1

This post is 1 part of our blog series: Whispers from the valley- life and legacy of the indus civilization 

The first ray of bright radiant beams of sunlight strech over the horizon, casting a soft glow on the dust covered streets of Mohenjodaro. Ila a young girl of twelve, steps out of her mud brick home into the quiet stillness of the morning. The city is just beginning to wake up but there's already a sense of order in the air the kind you can feel in the way the buildings are lined up perfectly the way the roads seem to follow a clear pattern.

Ila's mother is already sweeping the courtyard while her father prepares to visit the marketplace. They live simply but comfortably in a small house with walls made of baked clay bricks. The house is cool inside even in the heat of the day. Outside she can see the public well the one that everyone in the neighbourhood shares It's always crowded with women with jugs in their hand waiting for the fresh water to fill them up.

Ila's first task is to fetch some water. She walks down the neatly paved streets her sandals tapping softly on the stone path. The sound is different from the mud roads of other places. Mohenjodaro is special. The city is clean it's streets have drain to carry away the waste and the roads are arranged like a grid a perfect design.

As she passes the market site she sees the familiar sight of traders setting up their stalls. There are beads, pottery, cloth and even shiny stones. Ila's favourite are the seals small square objects made of stone. She doesn't know what symbol on them mean but she's seen them everywhere. Some says they tell stories other believe they are messages from god's.

By midday Ila is back home sitting on the floor and helping her mother make clay pots. It's a simple life but it's a good one. She the love the smell of fresh clay and the sound of her mother's laughter as they work together. Her father comes with the news of market he sold some grains and they will be able to buy a new piece of cloth.

As the evening falls Ila eats her meal under the stars lentils, barley, bread, fruits. The city around her is quiet now the sound of children's laughter fading into the night. Somewhere the faint tune of flute plays blending with the night.

But Ila doens't know that peace of her city will one day be lost to time. She doesn't know that Mohenjo-daro's story will the mystery that one day archeologists will try to piece together from ruins long burried beneath the earth. They will wonder what happened to the people who built this place. Why did they leave? Where did they go?

The answers are still hidden beneath the ground as a mystery waiting to be uncovered.

This is just the beginning of our journey through ancient India. In the next few posts we will explore about the mysteries of Indus valley civilizations it's rise and fall and the secret still burried beneath it's silent stone.