Speaking Archaeologically™

Disclaimer: The following account includes screaming kids, a tik tok video shoot, attempts to enter a locked baoli, dogs lazing around, and yes! A site cover. You are still in that holiday stupor even though your holidays have ended. Imagine then getting a text one day on your class group saying that all your classes are cancelled. Wouldn’t you just have a big goofy smile on your face and snuggle right back into your covers? Or just spend the whole day lazing around and catching up on Netflix (Kdramas for me please)? No, no. That wasn’t the case with me though. Rather the first waking thought that came to my mind was, “Ah great I finally have some time to do a site cover”. Yes you read that right. A site cover, something that I would later find to be challenging yet extremely fun by the end of it. And before you think of me as someone crazy, hear me out!   I had embarked on the quest of exploring the ‘Baolis of Delhi’ initially as a part of my research project, something ...

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” -Robert Frost On a chilly winter morning, three bravehearts— or let's just say three girls from the Research Wing Delhi Group at Speaking Archaeologically—took upon themselves the task of exploring the baolis of Delhi. Though I might have sounded as if  we were going to fight a war in Siachen, yet it was a war with lax bureaucracy, nonetheless.  We started our job with the baolis of Mehrauli on a working day and on the 41 acres of sparsely populated area with almost no security, we were welcomed by a guard who looked at us as if we were loons. Our day was set, we were supposed to study about the baolis and compose a vulnerability report. However, instead of taking the trodden part we thought of digressing a bit. What could possibly go wrong with that? So, led on the road not taken by just our curiosity , we came across a sign board that read Bagh Nazir, ironically next...

Archaeology, ancient history and stone tools: how fascinating do all these words sound to you? Well, they certainly do to me or to anyone at Speaking Archaeologically, a.k.a. the College History Association that has gone too far. Which is why, on the fine Sunday morning of August 11, 2019, as Lord Indra of the Vedas  showered his blessings on his human subjects relentlessly, I headed towards the Natural History Museum in Chandigarh.  It was a nostalgic feeling for me, as the venue for workshop was near my Alma mater. As a student of arts, I had attended numerous workshops, but this one was going to be different, as this one was about stone tools and not much artsy. I was excited as this was the first workshop of the season 2019-2020 at Speaking Archaeologically conducted by one of the members of the Research Wing, Mayank Singh.  We were asked to come prepared with graphs, pencils and tracing papers in advance, so I did. As I stepped into the museum, I saw a group of...