Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Have you ever wonder what life for the people of the Indus Valley Civilization looked like? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. But for those curious about that elusive era of history, Nikhil Gulati’s graphic novel ‘People of The Indus’ serves as a reader friendly guide.
In this book, Gulati traces the timeline of the civilization, its discoveries, ruins, and the systems that may have existed to sustain what was clearly a well-planned, highly organized society, complete with public baths, granaries, and an advanced drainage network that continues to stump historians. The civilization was at its peak between 2600–1900 BCE, and begin to slowly decline from thereon. Why? There are only theories, and this book looks at them in its closing chapters.
In fact, I remember first reading about people of the Indus in our history textbooks back in Class 5, an introduction that left a lasting impression on me. Years later, a visit to the National Museum in Delhi brought that fascination rushing back, especially when I saw the bronze ‘Dancing Girl’ statue on display, unearthed from the ruins of Mohenjo-daro.
Gulati attempts to weave fictional stories around the People of the Indus, initially sparking the reader’s curiosity about how their lives might have looked, but he struggles to sustain that narrative thread. As a result, while the book raises expectations of rich, historical fiction set in the era, it doesn’t quite deliver on that promise.
The artwork is very simple, illustrations you’d see in Indian comics like Tinkle. And while cutesy, simple doodle style drawings do have their charm, it’s not as appealing to those who might’ve picked the book for artwork. When I think of a historical graphic novel, I expect grander, more detailed art styles. Most panels were a cartoon version of the author talking to the reader.
That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this book, it was definitely worth a read. A chapter about why people of the Indus didn’t build grand structures like the Pyamids was very intriguing. Gulati refers to Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Sapiens’, echoing the author’s view on how religion was a big unifier and how rulers in Egypt claimed to embody Gods and built grand structures to awe common people and demanded their worship. But the Indus region shows no signs of lavish grand structures, indicating that it might’ve been more democratic in nature that its contemporary civilizations.
Overall, ‘People of the Indus’ is good guide for students curious about history, but older readers might not find it as fascinating.
Rating: 3.5 on 5.
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