Moen Jo Daro

Moen Jo Daro

In the ancient history there had been much remarkable civilization in the human history such as, Sumerian civilization, and Egyptian civilization. By the same line the Indus valley civilization has been termed as much important, significant and splendid civilization as the above mentioned ones. Indus valley civilization came to know by the ruins of Moen jo Daro, which is said to be 2500 B.C.

I am privileged to visit the ancient city several times, it is so beautiful. It is a very good site for tourism. People from all over the world come to see the beauty of architecture of the city. There is a museum where one can see idles, jewelry, crockery and much more, which belong to the people who used to live in the city thousand year ago. There is the picture of Moen Jo Daro on the note of ten rupees of Pakistan.

Lets read the details of the city.

Moen Jo Daro

Moen Jo Daro (The Mound of The Dead) is one of the ancient cities in the world. It is located in the Sindh province on the right bank of the Indus River. Moen Jo Daro was discovered in 1922 by Sir John Marshall. The city was built almost five thousand years ago. The city was approximately one square mile in size, and it had almost 35000 residents.

Mohenjodaro and Harappan Civilization are the most important places of Pakistan Heritage for Tourism.

Architecture of The City

In the found ruins at the site it seems that the city contains streets, building, houses, a granary, baths, assembly halls and towers.

Furthermore the city was divided into two parts. In the first part of the Citadel that accommodated the huge tank or bath, which had fine brickwork and systematic drainage system. This whole part was surrounded by a veranda. On the other side, there were the giant granary, well planned residential complex and two assembly halls. The lower city was build to the east of the Citadel

The streets were straight, and were drained to keep the area sanitary. The very little stones were used in the construction. Two types of bricks- mud bricks, and wood bricks, were used. The people were good at irrigation and flood control.

It is firmly believed that Moen Jo Daro was indeed a well planned city. 

Eastern and Western Mysticism

Body and Soul in the Poetry of Shah Latif and Walt Whitman

It is calculated that literature and philosophy are the foundation stones in any nation and country of the world. By this way, literature and philosophy shape the directions of thinking and mode of progress on those basis nations set their goals and move onward. In this context, if seen the Eastern and the Western poles of the world, the above dictum comes true. Today’s Eastern nations are mostly relying on the spiritual philosophy and the Western world especially America is enjoying the materialist progress. Every pole is developing to its own sides and directions. Islam Confucianism and Buddhism provided the basis for Eastern and Asian thinking and philosophy and several materialist thinkers laid the basis of American materialist development. What we see America and the East today is the result of those philosophies. Both the sides can be understood through its classical literature and philosophy. In this context the nineteenth century well-known American Poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) can be referred to know the actual context of American development and progress in materialism. Because Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy", a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of Walt Whitman, Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe, wrote: "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."

The literary critic, Harold Bloom wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass: “If you are American, then Walt Whitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if, like myself, you have never composed a line of verse.” These some examples prove the importance and influence of Whitman in American political, philosphical, and cultural development. Because three themes are prediminately are found overtly in his poetry: (1) American people and American democracy (“enmasse”) (2) sex and senses; and (3) death.

On the other hand our great mystic poet Shah Latif (1689-1752) is one of representative poet of Islamic and eastern philosphies. On the one hand, one will find the Hindu mortification philosphy in his poetry and on the hand Islamic faith and eternity abudently. Both the poet have different world view which is also seen in todays world as well. At the Western side as is seen today is much selfishness and self development in the materialist philosphy as Whaitman says:

Come, I will make the continet indissoluble…

I hear America singing, the varied carlos I hear;

Above both examples illustrate the selfishness and betterment of oneself which is essence of todays American and Western priority. Whereas Islamic and Eastern philosphy emphasize the eternal and universal well-being and welfare. Shah Latif prays from God:

O my lord, bestow prosperty on Sindh for ever,

O my sweet friend, shower blessings on all the world.

Shaikh Ayaz: The poet of Life and Human Awakening

The legendry poet of Sindhi language and one of the greatest scholars of twentieth century Shaikh Ayaz (1923-1997) whose original name is Shaikh Mubarak Ali using the pen-name as Shaikh Ayaz, is the author of 75 books, of them more than 50 has been published so far. He composed his fiery, mystic and humanistic poetry and wrote much prose only one of its kinds for almost half of the century depositing enormous constructive mark on Sindhi language and modern Sindhi literature. He composed his verses almost in all literary genres. He not only composed lofty and immortal poems but also wrote in prose so excellently. He brought into play conventional meters of the language in classical genres as well as in modern poetry and formulated new experiences in meters. With regard to theme, Shaikh Ayaz worked less or more almost on all subjects from universal to territorial, from humanism to patriotism; but the bulk of his poetry is composed under the theme of saving life on the earth and awakening humanity towards the welfare and wellbeing of life. He, in this poetic expression and feelings, chanted the slogan to save life of all the creatures created by the God, he brings forward the idea like in the following verse:

Taking no pity, you slung it

Like you, the little one!

The dove, too, has a mom

It is soundly observed that the poets are sensitive in their feelings and sentiments and their message is to feel pain of others akin to one’s own. At this juncture the metaphoric use of mother’s sensitive and subterranean love sensitizes the feelings of the boy. It is for the reason that the love, wistful eyes and compassionate care of mom are incomparable towards her progeny. On the other hand it is verily said that your survival lies in your fellow men’s survival; like the famous dictum ‘جيو اور جيني دو’ (Live and let live others). This is genuine memo of our religion of Islam as well as the message of humanity. No doubt, such kind of feelings and sensitiveness in one’s being if truth be told fetch suffering. It is because this world is full of sorrows and agonies as Goutam Buddha said ‘Surrom Dukham Dukhaum’ (Every thing is a pain), yet continuing committed towards that and enduring the pain of suffering of others for oneself is really the essence of human distinctiveness. Ayaz acknowledges this as;

Tearful tales my talent has given me

I have sung the sorrows of whole country

Being a Hindu, Living In A Muslim Society

 “I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world.”

Dalai Lama

Since human beings are imperfect, any human society they create is imperfect. Hindus and Muslims have lived together for over 1000 years. There have been times when several conflicts have taken place between both these communities but today time has changed. People used to think that we being Hindus have different kind of thinking or we face special kind of problems but that is not the case in real life, the truth is totally different. We eat, we drink, we think all the same even our tensions we have in our life are same as any other community.

About ten percent of the population in Pakistan is Hindus; still few people think that we have some kind of restrictions or difficulties in living in this country. As a matter of fact there is no such thing. We are pretty comfortable living here; we face no restrictions or difficulties in the schooling of kids, our lifestyle. It actually feels good when people are so supportive of you and want to know about your lifestyle or about your culture.

Even making friends is not that big of an issue. When I was in school my friends were pretty comfortable with me. We used to hangout; we used to eat together and even have sleepovers. I don’t know the exact reason so as to why people even of my religion think that it is a big deal because my family is also friends with Muslims. We were born in this country so I guess religion should not matter much.

As far as terrorism is concerned, it exists for everyone here, be it a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian. Times have changed today and people have accepted the fact that nothing is wrong with being of a different religion. The generation today is very open minded towards these kinds of topics.

Pakistanis celebrate all kinds of festivals, such as Eid, Diwali, and Christmas. It makes no difference even if we are Hindus. Not only we but even my Muslim friends celebrate all the same festivals as I and we enjoy ourselves.