#400 - The People of the Indus
by Nikhil Gulati and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
“The People of Indus” by Nikhil Gulati and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. Published by Penguin. An incredible narrative about the amazing Indus Valley civilisation in graphic format.
This one of its kind graphic novel showcases how the enigmatic and unique Indus civilisation changed the course of human history. It is backed by extensive research from Jonathan Mark Kenoyer who is a leading archaeologist on the subject and has spent decades in excavations at Harappa. The book tries to seek answers to questions like the following. Who were the people of Indus? Why didn’t they build grand monuments like palaces or pyramids like those in Egypt from a similar timeframe? And what happened to them ultimately after seven centuries of growth and prosperity?
The book chooses to narrate the story through two beautifully intertwined narratives instead of a dull record of dates and events. On the one hand there is a person who is walking through the ruins of Mohenjodaro in the present time period talking about the civilisation and we have the story of an Indus family through generations trying to portray how they might have been. Bringing in people to show how life must have been in those days and the visual representation by itself makes this an unmissable book. Read this fantastic book to appreciate the ingenuity of the people of this civilisation and the treasures that they have left behind.
My almost nine year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. He was amazed by the facts and the way in which they were presented. He loved looking at the artwork. For him the narrator who walks around Mohenjodaro is “Nikhil Gulati uncle” :) I am sure that the book is going to be cherished and read several times as he grows up to understand it better. We had already read two books “Thangam of Mehrgarh” and “A Harappan Adventure” set during the times of the civilisation and he therefore had a little bit of a background. The book is quite comprehensive. Yes, it doesn’t give concrete answers to all questions. It even gives rise to more questions for which answers are yet to be found. There are interpretations which are left to readers just like how archaeologists also haven’t been able to accept a single theory as accurate. We hope that the script gets deciphered sooner than later so that we may find answers to all the mysteries that shroud the people of this civilisation and a channel of communication opens up. Maybe one of our children will get motivated to be involved in this field someday!
For a long time, I had been enamoured by the Egyptian civilisation maybe because of the grandeur of the pyramids and the glitz surrounding the mummies and the riches. We hardly had anything on the Indus civilisation in our textbooks in school. A book of this kind was much needed and I am just blown away by how it has been written so well. The way the information has been categorised and presented in a simplistic manner without overwhelming the readers was something that I loved. Though it is categorised as a book for children aged 13 and above, I could read it out to my son and he could understand most of it with just a little bit of explanation. Maybe it was also due to his interest in the topic but I am still amazed as to how non fiction can be presented in such a different way through the graphic medium. This is no mean feat and the people behind this book deserve a round of applause from readers like us. The book is definitely a “MUST READ”. Wish some part of our history lessons are taught like this! My son told me that he overheard his seniors at school discussing about Indus civilisation during exams and he couldn’t help grinning when he realised that he already knew what they were talking about thanks to this book :)
When this had come to me a few months ago as part of the Penguin catalogue, I hadn’t picked it up from them for review thinking it may not work with my son now given his age. And that’s the only way I prefer to review books by reading it with him and getting his viewpoints. When I came across Rati Girish’s post about the book and how her children who are in a similar age group as my son could enjoy the book, I decided to give it a try with my son as well and we went ahead and bought this book and that proved to be such a good idea! Many thanks to you Rati for posting a wonderful review about the book on Instagram!
Recommended Age
The book is apt for anyone aged 13 and above for self reading. That said, it can be read out to children aged 8/9 and above like we did :)
Reasons to Read
The book is a comprehensive one on Indus civilisation and the perfect means to introduce children to this incredible part of history.