12 Past Life

"You are telling me that you are coming from the Indus Valley period?" asked Tania with excitement.

"This was a dream come true." thought Tania.

"My thesis has been submitted otherwise I would have added a lot of information from this girl."

"Can you tell me about any seals, coins, toys etc. that were made in your area?"

"I do not have anything at present but I think I can describe a few things." Sanya replied. "In my next visit I will bring something to show you. But can you not guess from my clothes?" she added.

Tania looked at her again and shook her head. "It is not possible as the clothes you are wearing are the same type of clothes which were worn by the queens and princesses way into the 15-16 centuries."

"Can you describe an important city where you live. You could not have traveled all the way from present day Gujarat or from present day Pakistan?"

"No!" Sanya replied. "Those cities of Lothal and Harappa etc are too far away." The city I have lived in is Kalibangan."

Tania was in a minor shock. She was still wishing that she had not submitted her thesis. She could have made it even better after acquiring information and having added this information that Sanya could give her.

"The place from where I hail from is called Kalibangan and it is in the present-day Rajasthan. It is actually a prehistoric town located 205 Km from Bikaner."

"It means black Bangles and is a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley. Our city has houses on both sides of streets, brick on edge platforms, bathrooms and drains of baked bricks."

"The citadel (higher area) has a huge gateway on the south side with a flight of steps to climb up to the platforms. It is divided into two parts, one having platforms and other having a residential complex for the elite, separated by a wall. The lower area is for the public."

"We make bangles and beads for export. These bangles are made of precious stones like chalcedony, agate, shells, carnelian, copper, etc."

"We have internal trade between various provinces. This means agricultural produce, industrial raw materials like copper ores, stone, semi-precious shells, etc."

" It also means finished products from metals like pots and pans, weapon, etc.; Precious and semi-precious stones (beads, pendants, amulets, etc.); and Ornaments of gold and silver."

"Because of the trade, we have a good social structure and the standard of living is high. We have developed a system of communication and a strong economy."

"We also imported many things. The imports came to our port city of Lothal. Our imports comprise Copper from Oman. Tin from present day Afghanistan and Iran."

"We use the wooden plow with a copper or wooden plowshare to work on the soil for tilling the fields. We grow our own crops and take the help of the cow or bulls to till the soil. This is done by harnessing them. We grow two crops in a year. The river banks gets flooded during the summer and monsoons. When the water recedes it leaves behind alluvial silt, which is highly productive."

"The main cereals cultivated in my province are Rice, Wheat and Barley as well as Six varieties of Millet including ragi, kodon, sanwa, and jowar along with vegetables like peas and beans."

"The cereals are stored in granaries and kept in reserve to face any future emergency. We also grow cotton and spindles are there to have it woven into threads and then weave it into cloth."

"We're harvesting the crops with copper sickles as well as stone blades shafted in wood. Our people have invented the wheel, and we use the wheels by fastenings with wood to make carts and harness animals like horses, donkeys etc to carry our ware to the sea ports for export."

"I will bring you a Toy bullock carts made from terracotta from which you can figure out that carts with wheels were used for transportation in my home state. In many countries, especially in the villages the same sort of carts are still used today."

"We know about Mining, Metal-Working and the art of constructing well-planned Buildings. We have some buildings which are higher than two stories."

"In addition we made utensils and storage jars of metals. The potter's wheel is still widely used to made pottery."

"Then we also make steatite seals which depict a single animal like a unicorn, bull, elephant, rhinoceros etc. but some seals also depict trees, semi-human, and human figurine . Some of these seals contain the image of a ship or mother earth or the ruler of the animals. These seals are used for trade."

"We have trade relations with Mesopotamia as well as Egypt."

"The knowledge of manufacturing of Gypsum to join Metals and Stones is available with us. We have knowledge of long-lasting Paints and Dyes."

While Sanya was describing her province, Tania was recalling her research work on the subject. This girl, Sanya, was giving a lot of information. The information on her project was not so detailed.

"Wow! So much information." said Tania.

"There is a lot I need to know about you, basically what has been happening in your life."

"You did tell me that your uncle wants to get rid of you and usurp the throne. But can you tell me what actually transpired to make you suspect him of harboring murderous thoughts?"

"I do not like my Uncle but what makes you think that he is your uncle too?" Have you seen him, I mean my uncle that you are equating him to be your uncle?"

"Can you please explain, I am so confused."

"Ok, I will try," responded Sanya with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You see, while I was looking for you, I entered his room by mistake and saw him. He looked the same as my uncle, the same calculating mean face."

"Tell me, he must be behaving as if he is the best person on earth for you. Being very considerate, talking with all sweetness etc."

"Yes you are right, he was behaving like that since I picked him up at the airport along with the other relatives." Replied Tania.

"Of course, I forgot that you were getting to know your relatives from the paternal side as well as the maternal side." Sanya pondered. "I would still advise you to be very careful about that guy, he is no good."

"Time for me to go. I will see you again soon," saying this Sanya made a move as if to disappear.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Tania opened her eyes. She had been in a dream. Sanya had disappeared. This was very strange.