Speakeasy: Hunting for keys to crack Indus Valley code

About two decades ago, the conference rooms of Delhi institutions like the Sahitya Akademi and India International Centre were often haunted by a tall, thin and unfailingly polite gentleman with a briefcase who always sat at the back. There, he carried on a private conference with his neighbours that began with these momentous words: “I have it!” The nature of ‘it’ was revealed when he shyly—but proudly—opened the briefcase and took out sheaves of paper thickly inscribed with the Indus Valley script and copious notes. “And this is the horse symbol.” What did the horse represent? You asked, “What’s this?” He replied, “A phallic symbol.” You persisted: “And that one?” Again, “A phallic symbol.” This, too, was not wholly incredible: an extraordinary number of Roman artefacts in that category have been uncovered.