Cover-ups of the historic kind
Updated On: 23 June, 2026 08:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Fiona Fernandez
The buzz around Mohenjo-daro’s Dancing Girl being ‘covered up’ in certain textbooks, and eventually restored to its original avatar, raises questions. Sir Pheroze and Lady Flora discuss the topic

Lady Flora and Sir Pheroze look at the original image of the Dancing Girl after NCERT’s decision to shade over the image in the Std IX Arts Education textbook. It was reverted later. Illustration/Uday Mohite
Lady Flora held a large textbook in her hand, as she made her way to meet her friend, Sir Pheroze. The subject [of the textbook] was history. She arrived at the dot of midnight, and hoped her friend would also show up on time. There was a lot to be discussed, as she swiftly made her way to their usual bench at Horniman Circle Garden. Being nighttime, the calm of the otherwise buzzing business district was the perfect setting. In fact, the topic of such interest to her that a preparatory phone call had was done prior to their Sunday night meet-up.
“You know, Pheroze, of all the surprises that our history textbooks have had to endure in recent decades, this one took the cake. What were they thinking when they decided to cover-up the stylish dancing girl from Mohenjo-daro? How did the bare torso suddenly become a concern, when it seemed fine to use the original image in textbooks for decades before this, as part of the chapter on the Indus Valley Civilisation? It’s baffling, to put it mildly,” turning the pages of the old textbook to reach the particular chapter in question.
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