05 May,2009 07:37 AM IST | | Manish Gaekwad
On a business trip to Pakistan, Deutsche Bank MD, Makarand Khatavkar, decided to visit the ancient cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. He completed his journey with Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat, and ended up collecting images never seen before. Manish Gaekwad quizzed the banker on the freeze frames
Even as their insides look scooped out and mute hollow, the remnants of the past seem to echo through
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Deutsche Bank manager Makarand Khatavkar. PIC / BIPIN KOKATE |
What lessons do we need to learn in architectural planning from past cities?
From a management perspective, I see a huge amount of planning invested in creating this civilisation. Citizens hadu00a0 tremendous insight in town planning, granary husking platforms, wide roads and water harvesting. They had vision and exemplified it with a great exhibition of their skills. About 40,000 people inhabited the city peacefully. Mohenjo-daro, which is over 5,000 years old, remains intact to date.
Do you think people in those times had a better sense of design and space?
The Indus Valley civilisation had vast spaces so artfully designed that a bath house was not just a large tract, but was sectioned to serve every one in society. They had a stadium for outdoor sports, houses were modelled to adapt to nature and exist in a greener environment. Flat-bottomed boats were designed to suit the still waters of the Indus river. On the other hand, what is the condition of a city like Mumbai right now? When I look back in time, those cities impress more than our current
living conditions.
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What we gauge from your photographs and what we have read about these cities shows that a lot of the architecture was achieved through systematic planning, without losing aesthetic appeal. Does any
a well at Harappa
current city in India boast of such well- planned architectural splendour?
Chandigarh is top of mind. When I look at cities when they were being built, the old structures of Hyderabad and Pune depict a sense of good planning mixed with architectural elegance.
Seeing the simplicity with which ancient people lived walled cities without warfare, does modernity imply decay?
It's not as if in that period people were not modern in their outlook. People were civilised; they had trade links to Mesopotamia and Iran. They worked no different from any city you see now, but much is undocumented because this was in the proto-history period. I am sure basic human behaviour like anger, violence was all the same, but I think what sets them apart is that their values were different. They were a peace-loving people. Though they live in walled houses, no warfare equipment has been traced from that time.u00a0
Was the architecture of the period a symbol of unassailable power that kept cities from being plundered?
When you see the seals of that period, symbols did play a very important role in their life. Roughly about 10 clans were present in the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, each clan having a totemic symbol that varied from an unicorn to a hare. Historians believe these clans were closely-knit through the common space they shared. Their unity in every aspect of city planning and development insured they were united within those very walls they erected to self-sustain their cities in. This made invasion impossible as they were no factions within themselves.
Do you feel certain aspects needed improvisation?
No. They are faultless nothing seems out of place. With the kind of techniques used in bead-making and bath house kiln, they have shown us the way forward. I am not an archeologist; my interest lies in history and heritage and these places helped me get a better perspective of our past. The pictures that we have seen in history textbooks are antiquated. So, I took it upon me to bring these images and exhibit them in a gallery for everyone to get a better insight on
our civilisation.
As a civilisation, were people back then happier?
Requirement of families was incorporated with private and public space in mind. Given the chaos we see around us now, I would have to believe they were more peaceful. If that translates into happiness, I guess so.
At: Nehru Centre art gallery, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli.
Call: 24964676.
Timings: 11 am to 7 pm.
Entry: free.
Till: May 11
manish.gaekwad@mid-day.com
