Night at the Museum: the Lahore Chapter

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My Dear Kim,

Last week, I visited the Lahore Museum after a long time. My eyes instinctively searched for you, the curious little chap - English but not white, rather "burned black as any native who spoke the vernacular", rider of the Zamzama cannon and the "friend of the world". I was introduced to you on my eleventh birthday when I received two books by Kipling as gifts - Kim and The Jungle Book. As Kim is an autobiographical novel and knowing that Father Kipling was the museum curator, I often imagined you moving around the halls and galleries - hiding behind exhibits, reading late in the manuscript room and enjoying treasures of wisdom that weren't accessible to many Indians in your time. Of course, Kipling didn't highlight all the details of your mischiefs; he focused instead on your connection with the Lama, Buddha and the "Great Game" between Russia and Britain over Central Asia. Being Bano, I was particularly interested in your "Jewel Game", which enhanced one's capacity to observe and remember details - essential for becoming a good spy or detective.

By the way, have you watched Night at the Museum? It was the most sought-after movie for sleepover playdates among my children. I considered introducing the kids to Sherlock Holmes - my second crush after you - to help them develop acute observation and logical reasoning or perhaps Star Trek, inspiring them to seek out new life and civilisations "to boldly go where no man has gone before." However, giving in to the popular demand, we ended up watching the film featuring Ben Stiller. I had hardly taken notice of Stiller as a film star - neither his looks nor his acting had captured my attention - until he spent a night in the Natural History Museum, NY, in 2006 and then at the Smithsonian in 2009. Throughout the movie, I couldn't help but wonder what he would do if locked inside your "Wonder House", the red-bricked Mughal-British Colonial architecture that stands tall as a custodian of South Asian legacy on the Mall, Lahore. If he allowed me to plan his confinement, I would suggest that he start by learning about branding tactics using the small clay tablets as logos or trade seals of our ancient Indus ancestors. The Indus seals, with their undeciphered script, remain among the mysteries yet to be solved. He would miss the Dancing Girl though, as she resides in the Delhi Museum, while the Priest King is in Karachi; however, their presence is felt through everyday items proudly displayed in the prehistoric gallery.

He might also be interested in meeting Buddha reincarnated as a Gandharan prince. We have several specimens of this kind; they may not be as tall and magnificent as Greek gods but are sturdy, agile and kind, setting standards for South Asian male beauty. Would you like to introduce Stiller to the Fasting Buddha, who is in pursuit of spiritual realisation and mukti from human suffering? Ask him to be respectful of Buddhist relics as stupas are sacred to many and one must be respectful to all humanity regardless of faith system one follows. I am sure he would seek Krishna and the gopis, help Rama chase the deer for Sita or keep her company when she longs for her beloved under the moonlit nights of indigo Pahari skies in the Indian painting section.

The manuscript gallery may pose a challenge due to language barriers. If it might bring him comfort, many of us - Indian in spirit and body - also find Persian, Arabic, Gurmukhi, and even Urdu to be alien languages. Fortunately, visual language often helps determine the meaning of the text. I would warn him not to underestimate the illustrations, despite a non-mathematical perspective or a preference to stylisation over naturalism. In Eastern cultures, "nothing" matters and I refer to abstraction in art. We have always been attentive to the void, the infinite and the formless - the ghaib - while the West set these ideals only in modern art. Perhaps we have been born modern. And yes, if the director is interested, I can propose a sequence for Pakistan Movement Gallery, coins collection and contemporary art section housing the great ustaads of modern art.

Bano

Feb, 2025