Fighting the Flood at Mohenjodaro

Camels, donkeys, bullocks and elaborately-painted buses are the normal means of transport in rural Pakistan. So, after a three hour journey across the irrigated plains of northern Sind, I was hardly surprised when our driver pulled out to overtake a swiftly-moving camel train. However, as I looked back, I saw that the camels were themselves overtaking a small, wooden-wheeled cart drawn by a humped white Brahman bull. Half an hour later, in the museum at Mohenjodaro, I was shown a terracotta model of an identical cart. The guide told me that it was a child's toy made 4,000 years ago.

The small site museum at Mohenjodaro shows that the inhabitants of the ancient Indus city enjoyed a very pleasant life. Two large murals reconstruct scenes of a bustling and prosperous brick-built city. River boats are loading and unloading a variety of goods and foodstuffs and the citizens, clad in short, girdled skirts and wearing elaborate jewellery, seem to lack for nothing.