Bhavana Shukla from Rann of Kutch
Copy write @ shabdwriter At last, tranquillity was prevailing in the atmosphere , contrary to brown barren deserts, this lively large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan looks like endless brown velvet carpet with densely embedded little white tiny crystals on ground to take you to a new horizon. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Slowly we were moving towards world’s one of the largest white desert, The nothingness for miles & whiteness in true sense symbolising peace here.
Did not want to know any rational information about the place as serenity was there. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Infact the Rann of Kutch contrary to Old Nick’s oven , has pleasant weather at the beginning of the year’s last month.
On December 4, the weather was pleasant & beautiful landscape was all set ready to compel the visitors to extend their stay if expensive accommodation permits. Copy write @ shabdwriter
As evening proceeded , visitors enthusiasm transforms in to joyful voices & smiling faces, spread in around 7,000 sq. km this desert filled with people’s elation & delight.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Sprawling wild babul (Ganda Baavar as native calls ) shrub and Banni grassland area starts shrinking as our vehicle was moving from little Rann of Kutch to Greater Rann.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Only twilight could capture our attention from ground to Sky,
as dusk was falling slowly. As red orange Sun sinks in the white salts ocean, leaving stage for sparking numerous starts to regale us.
It was dark moon day, galaxy was at its peak to lure the visitors. Even ordinary mobile’s pixels could capture thousand miles away stars in its eyes. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Dholavira the Indus site in India, located in this region , was built on the tropic of Cancer, possibly indicating that this city’s inhabitants were skilled in astronomy.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Virtually you can see a place, physically you can feel. Rannscape was enough to wash out our struggle to get hot water for shower in winter morning during the extravagance tent city stay. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Against a ninety minute nonstop flight from Mumbai, it took almost 12 hours to reach wet-grassland of Kutch from Indore, as we went via Ahmedabad by road.
In the past few years, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, Gujarat government has advertised the ‘Rann of Kutch’ as Kutch Nahi Dekha to Kuchh Nahi Dekha (If you have not seen Kutch, then you have Dr seen nothing). Copy write @ shabdwriter
It is a distinctive destination with its core identity of ethnic mix and historic isolation. Indeed a heaven of exquisite.
My first and only glimpses of Gujarat, until this trip, were limited to Dahod city. A town that shares its border with my native state — Madhya Pradesh. Copy write @ shabdwriter
So my experience as a tourist to Gujarat, who glean information from various sources, is largely superficial and limited to pictures of Rann of Kuchh, Wild Ass and of course migratory flamingos – that appeared in various travel magazines, web-portals and occasional blogs until I got to Gujarat — an elbow into the Arabian sea – appearance wise. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Superficially you can see and peep into daily lives of bead workers, potters, carvers, cobblers, bell makers who live in various parts of the Gujarat state in scattered hamlets. Their marvellous crafts and artefacts have made the way into modern markets, shopping malls, etc., not only in India but sophisticated urban markets worldwide though journey is arduous and very long.Copy write @ shabdwriter
You can see 400-year-old tradition of making a pottery that required 14 years of learning to a craftsman. Many would say the art is now dying and almost extinct.
Many artists, craftsmen have joined big league of cheap machine-made textile industries, and now they sell their artwork to tourists like me who visit the grasslands of the Kutch in the most north-western corner of India, in Gujarat state just 160 kilometers, or 100 miles, from the Pakistani border.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Tourism here is on the rise, thanks to nonstop flights into the newly modernized airport in Bhuj, pleasant overnight accommodations and good roads, though shared intermittently by herded buffalo and sheep.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Those amenities, along with clean water and electricity, came to the Kutch after a devastating earthquake in 2001 brought economic assistance to the area and helped revive dying craftsmanship.Copy write @ shabdwriter
Several local cooperatives and non-profit groups now market the region’s handicrafts, particularly exquisite embroidery, to sophisticated urban markets in India and abroad. You can find embroidered bags, pouches, home furnishings, quilts, art panels and dolls made by thousands of women artisans from 10 ethnic communities in the region. Nothing increases one’s appreciation for these things like watching and meeting the artisans who make them.Copy write @ shabdwriter
The village of Hodka is like a spacious open-air oasis decorated with traditional white-clay mirror work, locally embroidered fabrics and colourful private cabanas. The mud huts and a tourist village were built with funds from the United Nations Development Program and employs locals as designers, cooks, musicians and managers. Copy write @ shabdwriter
Profits from the hotel are ploughed into community projects in Hodka.
About 200 families reside in Hodka’s brightly painted, circular mud huts with sloping thatched roofs called bhungas. Women draw water from wells and men tend buffalo that provide what is touted as the richest milk in India.Copy write @ shabdwriter
The splendid embroidery done by the women in Hodka is known for its style, colour and patterns passed down from mother to daughter over many generations. Copy write @ shabdwriter Embroiderers welcome visitors into their homes and display their vast collections of quilts and tunics (kanji), emblazoned with colourful thread stitched into geometric shapes, embedded with small glinting mirrors. Little girls sit on stoops practicing with needle and thread, preparing their own collections.
Embroidery work in the Kutch is a mélange…
Thanks@ Maa, #SCANT, # Ajith
Great event.