The editorial about the makeover of the ‘Dancing Girl’ was apt (TGE 17 June, 2026). This figurine was a unique find of a girl with bare torso, hair in a tight bun, right hand on the hip and the left on the left knee. It belongs to Mohenjo-daro times and is dated to be 2,600 BCE.This iconic image in the ‘Madhurima’ the art textbook of Class 9, was recently ‘disfigured’ by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The photograph of the original artefact was shaded to hide the anatomical details. Because of a debate that the artefact of the Indus Valley Civilisation has been tampered with, the NCERT will replace the modified image with the original one. Ironically, in the Class 6 Social Science textbook the image used is akin to the original bronze artefact. The NCERT had a prudish thought when it ‘clothed’ the figurine. Maybe the council members are blind to the fact that the famous Vatsyayana was an Indian and the sculptures in Ellora, Khajuraho, Konark, museums and in other places, leave nothing to imagination. Today’s children they have a mind of their own and dislike dancing to others tunes.
SRIDHAR D'IYER, Caranzalem
