Glorious Past
Rukshana Nanji stumbled upon a female human skeleton as old as three thousand five hundred years, while digging a site in Navadatoli in Madhya Pradesh. Back in the early nineties this was a stunning discovery when historians believed the Harappen Culture to be existent around the Indus. A masters degree in Archeology and Ancient History from Deccan College Pune, Rukshana is one of the few women in the country to have worked in new and ancient sites like Harappan port city, Padri, Samrapur, Daulatabad, Hampi ,Sanjan ………….. . A bizarre turn of events strikes the life of the young Archeologist. Mysteriously her discovery containing data and log books get stolen from her study in Pune. The chapter of the buried Chalcolithic woman buried deep in the heart of a big civilization clasping an herbivore molar tooth in her palms remains unsolved.
The whole episode was heart ranching for Rukshana so much so that she left archeology to look after her family business. “ I did not have enough fund to open up my trench again”. She explains. “After all, I had funded my dig. It cost me Rs 60,000/- to excavate and I did not have the heart to go back again”, she laments.
Rukshana feels that it can only be passion and Indiana Jones kind of a drive that coerce one to carry on excavating for the past. “Archeology cannot be a full time paid job. It is a vocation,” is her claim. She has been lucky to have an earning. Many others have resorted to banking, financing, and Auto sales or even travel agency to pursue this bizarre passion. Although the picture is not as bleak as it appears to be. Archeology is an umbrella field for such specialized subjects as museology, conservation, archeo-chemistry epigraphy and iconography.
After eight years of nursing a scarred heart, Rukshana is back to where she loves it the most – digging. A broken engagement to a schizo- phrenic, paedophile, half-Parsi, half- French fiancé was the ultimate salt on Rukhsana’s already healing wound. She was crestfallen to find him the lunatic when disastrous facts unfolded before her when she visited him on her engagement day in Rome.
“Sanjan is a ‘benchmark site’ and it will create International history”, exclaims Rukshana. Lately she has been working here with a group of five excavators in rural parts of Valssad, in Gujarat. Preliminary but concrete evidence of thriving trade and commerce between the Persian Gulf and China have been unearthed. Working incessantly on the fields for three long months, the group has found ornate wares and urban pottery. Suggestively a very cultured and stylish lifestyle existed in rural Sanjan way back in the 7th centaury AD. “Glazed coloured pottery, coins and other artefacts in addition to a sophisticated drainage system bears testimony tom the affluent times in this part of the western coast.
A group of Zoroastrians fled persecution by Arabs in Iran to land on Sanjan way back in the 4thy centaury AD. The then monarch of the region refused asylum to the foreigners and sent them a bowl of milk instead. The travelers returned the milk after adding some sugar and a small gold ring. The king was instantly impressed at their wisdom and offered a part of the Greek.
The story has it that the sugar suggested that they would always spread sweetness and the gold coin indicated integrity. True to their word, the flock of wise men has contributed to the country’s Socio-economic status. Thus this excavation is an evidential story of eons back right at the heart of a mid-civilisation being told and established in the trenches of Sanjan. A find, not reported earlier.
“Life on the site is fun”, exclaims Rukshana. Make -shift tents, mess and dining arrangements are part of the exercise of the group. Local hands, draftsmen pullers, cooks and diggers form the group. A lot of study, research and brain storming go in before an excavation. Sometimes they are lucky to come upon a priceless statue or even remains of an ancestor who has lived, ate sung and danced. Sometimes there is nothing at all. A lot of patience, grit and determination are required to keep again. “Life itself is a big question -mark”, Rukshana preaches. And since I am a cross-word puzzle maniac I, find the whole thing quite interesting.
When not digging, she conducts workshops for school children on History and Archeology. She lets them handle pottery and wares from the digs. “It is a pleasure when the children glow with adventurism” she enthuses. In schools history texts have not been updated with modern finds and concrete evidences that will make history a practical subject.” She laments. Some of the well known excavated sites like Dhoulaveera in Kutch - Punjab region and Inamgao in Maharashtra otherwise well known in archeological circles have gone unmentioned.” Surprisingly, these Chaliohithic finds have found their mention in text books in the West.
Like her many tell-tale finds, Rukshana’s life has been full of events. A Kaleidoscopic image of bizarre happenings on and off the field and to beat it all she plans to adopt a girl child and settle down to being a single parent. Thanks to her mother and brother who have nudged her on, some day she hopes to publish her work too.
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