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Magazine
Experience
New horizons
MEENA MENON
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Underneath its vast emptiness, quiet changes are making their impact felt in the Rann of Kutch.
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Carvings on the tomb of Ghaus Mohammed.
On either side of the road, the pristine white blanket-like stretches are unrelenting. The bright sunlight bounces off the surface, broken in places by sea green water. Much has been said about the Rann of Kutch and now that you can drive right throu
gh it to the India Pakistan border, with all the right permissions of course, you can experience for yourself its vast emptiness. Bunches of oyster catchers with their bright red beaks can be seen along the way but there is little else to break the monotony. At the end of the 180-km drive from Bhuj, you are relieved that the Border Security Force (BSF) guys are a hospitable bunch.
The BSF has a spanking outpost at Vigha Kot, the site of an old fort and you drive a little further to the fence which has small gaps to allow for the occasional flag meeting between the Indians and Pakistanis. We cross over the fence and bingo, it’s Pakistan. Small white milestones indicate the international boundary and a little beyond, chalk marks indicate the place where the last flag meeting was held to discuss various administrative issues. In the distance you can see a small tower and beyond that there is a place called Rahim Ka Bazar. The region borders Sindh’s Tharpakar district and all is quiet on this front at least. Beyond a mass of shrubs, cows graze and often camels stray into the Rann, which have to be sent back. The fence is almost completed right to the edge of the sea and covers the entire Rann which borders Pakistan.
Thriving legends
On the way back, after we cross the famous India Bridge once again, which is the gateway to the Rann, we go up to Karo Dongar. This is the highest mountain in Kutch where every evening, according to an old legend, foxes from the nearby forests actually come to a designated place to eat the offerings at the temple of Dattatreya. I did not believe this would actually happen but around sunset, when the pujaris of the temple hauled across a huge cauldron of cooked rice to a round concrete platform, foxes of all sizes appeared from nowhere to eat it. The slopes of Karo Dongar are still forested and these animals rushed back into the tree cover with their share.
Much of Kutch shares a border with Pakistan and again in the ancient fort of Lakhpat, across which is the disputed Sir Creek, the BSF has outposts. The sprawling fort was a stopover for Guru Nanak on his way to Mecca and his sandals are carefully preserved in the 400-year-old gurudwara there. There is a beautifully carved tomb of a saint, Ghaus Mohammed, whose descendants still live there. We visited Narayan Sarovar and ahead, the ancient Shiva temple of Koteshwar, which is beautifully located at the edge of the sea.
The Harappan city of Dhola Vira, located in the island of Khadir, another long haul from Bhuj, is not to be missed and we have much to learn from its town planning and its incredible water storage systems. The Fossil Park at Bibbar, which has spectacular stuff, is in sore need of funds for a proper display of its precious items.
Sea change
Photos: Meena Menon
rare ambience: The Narayan Sarovar.
It is not only the stark beauty of Kutch and its varied attractions that grab you but also the special fervour that Kutchis have towards their native villages. After the massive January 26, 2001 earthquake, there is a sea change in this area: smoke spiralling from industries, broad tarred roads, freshly tiled houses, pipelines bringing water from the Narmada or the newly-fenced border with Pakistan. Post earthquake, the tax holiday has attracted more than its fair share of industries and farmers are selling their land to Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developers at unbelievable prices. For the first time perhaps migrants are pouring into Kutch to work in the mushrooming factories.
The locked houses in village after village is by no means an indication that people have gone away forever. As you travel around you will see spanking hospitals, schools and industries, all built with money put in by the expatriates. And so in Nana Bhadia village you have Chandrakant Gogri, a businessman based in Mumbai, who runs a high school. Most of the children are from neighbouring villages and the education is free. “I studied in this school long ago when classes were till the seventh standard. There is no high school in these parts so I decided to start one,” he says. Over 200 children including 39 girls come here and the trust which Mr. Gogri runs even provides subsidised transport for them.
In Bhojay village, the Bhojay Sarvodaya Trust runs a hospital entirely funded by the community in India and even from abroad. It is the only charitable hospital for miles around and also conducts medical camps round the year. Opened in 1999, this 15-bed hospital played a major role in the earthquake relief and catered to the needs of 2,000 people that time. At least 100 patients come here every day from places as far away as 150 km. The Trust has also helped the Dalit community in the village to rebuild their houses after the quake and since the community took an active interest, the rehabilitation was a successful affair. Dhanjibhai Hirji says that both the government and the Trust contributed money, while the people put in the labour.
Individual initiatives
While Kutch has enjoyed communal harmony and has places where Hindu temples and Muslim dargahs exist almost together, there were many issues of caste bias during the rehabilitation of the earthquake victims. Liladharbhai Gada of the Trust who has adopted a Dalit girl is now planning to change the social equations in Bhojay village by giving her his old house to live in. “That should cause some unrest in my community but I am willing to bear the consequences,” he says. And with that gesture, he’s probably done more than what all the hospitals or schools can achieve in this district.
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