Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

All my life I had seen photographs of a Harappan girl, found in the ruins of Mohenjo Daro, standing with attitude, face up, one arm on her waist, the other on her slightly bent knee. She is naked except for a string of bracelets that covers her left arm entirely, very much like Banjara women today. She has three cowrie-like pendants around her neck. British archaeologists called her a ‘dancing girl’ and the name stuck though there is nothing to suggest that she is dancing or trained in dance. Were they assuming she was similar to ‘nautch’ girls of Hindu temples and royal courts? She could very well be the bangle-seller’s daughter. Or a local princess. Or maybe an exasperated girl-child, because she did not like the food prepared. We really don’t know.