Antiquity had always fascinated me, whether through archaeology or paleoanthropology. Mary Leakey was one of my first heroes, though her quest was to trace human origins and mine turned out to be the exploration of ancient civilizations. Going further back in time, even as a child I was intrigued by the rustic world that lay beyond the lofty walls fortifying my village house. My father had led me to that world. A man born much ahead of his times, he had resolved to rid his daughters from the curse of purdah and educate them in an English school, hence us three sisters were allowed to explore anything we wanted. For me, almost everything around seemed to hold some secret. Ancient ruins, an abandoned river bed, impoverished shrines and isolated samadhis, aging trees with their massive trunks and the equally old peasants relaxing under their shade were all mysterious. At my school when I learnt that only an archaeologist could hold the keys to such secrets, I decided to become one. I never lost hope even when I was enrolling for my Master’s degree in the subject and discovered, at the last moment, that there was no department of archaeology at Karachi University.
I remember walking into the office of the Vice-Chancellor of the university with the request to establish one. The Vice Chancellor, Dr. Ehsan Rashid, responded with an Urdu verse that I do not remember but its gist was that I had the audacity to jump all the relevant authorities below and approach the highest with a trivial request. Nonetheless, he took my request seriously and assigned one of his staff members to help me.
The University could not open a department overnight, but on my suggestion Syed Muhammad Ashfaque from the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums was hired to offer courses in archaeology. This arrangement enabled me and my five colleagues, and many more after us, to study archaeology at one of the largest universities of Pakistan.
In 1979, I was given my first chance to read a paper at the International Symposium on Indus Civilization, sponsored jointly by UNESCO and the Government of Pakistan to help the “Save Moen jo Daro” campaign. I was the only Pakistani woman who read a paper at that symposium and I was also the youngest speaker. Bridgett Allchin from Cambridge University, England was another woman who along with her archaeologist husband Raymond Allchin presented the paper on their joint research.
An excerpt from my book on Moen jo Daro
parveentalpur 
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