Eleven years after an adventurous ride I land again on this
moon-land.
January 18th 2007, I distinctly remember that along with
my colleague and media fraternity from Bhuj, Ahmedabad and Rajkot, we all
crossed The Great Rann of Kutchh. Those were the days when there was actually
no road on this No man’s land, no network, no food, no water. Only Army and BSF
used to be the lifeline and support system.
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| BSF post Vigorkot in 2007 |
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| Bachendripal and the team before flag off in 2007 |
No roads and our vehicles went past on bushy, sandy, and
rocky terrain, leaving off trails and spreading the fine dust all across in the
environs. Mission….. to flag off “First women’s Thar Desert expedition” lead by
Ms. Bachendri Pal, passing by the Indo Pak borders.
Since it was for work, I always wanted to visit this place
again; especially after the ad campaign of ‘Khushboo Gujarat ki’ by Big B.
This time it was again the same place, Rann of Kutchh and
just five women in a car, lead by Sangeeta Patel, taking initiatives and the
driver seat too.
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| Sangita Patel |
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| Sunrise with Lotus |
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| Sunset |
Day 1: Ahmedabad to Gandhidham via Surendranagar, navigating
our ways by ourselves, technology that ways is a boon, zooming past by
windmills and salt pans, we reach Hotel Radisson Kandla Port.
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| Mehfeel-e-rann |
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| White desert - Rann |
After a Kathiawadi meal and some rest we headed to the White
Rann, a salty desert. Government of Gujarat has constructed a Tent city “White
Rann Resort” in close proximity to the Rann where Rann Festival is celebrated
for a three month long period.
To enter the White Rann, we need permissions as this area
falls under Border Security Forces. After completing the formalities we hired a
camel cart to reach out to the sunset point. In this bushy and sandy terrain,
white Rann is a section where you can see salt deposits for long stretches
deposited by inland sea water which goes back with waning moon leaving behind
crystal filled shiny salty terrain, white in colour.. another wonder of
nature!!
After clicking loads of pictures, we checked out the stalls
at the tent city which is full of eateries and shopping stalls…
Day 3: Early morning breakfast and we head towards Ashapura
temple. A single narrow road amidst The Great Sandy Rann of Kutchh, five women,
no human population can be spotted for stretches.. only trucks or some bikes
pass by…that’s the real empowerment.  |
| The road and we... |
The irony after the toil!! We couldn’t spot the sandal where
the expectancy was high as to no one can pick that one piece… A loss too at
times has to be taken in good spirits.
We reached Ashapura Temple, known as Mata nu Madh at 2 pm.
Since the darshan during afternoon are closed, the gates reopen
at 3 pm.. we decided to head towards Lakhpat, a place located very near to
Indo-Pak border. Our mission was darshan
of Gurudwara Pehli Patshahi dedicated Guru Nanak Devji as he had visited this
place when going to Mecca.  |
| Shri Guru Nanak Darbar Lakhpat |
Ashapura to Lakhpat is 40 km; 3 pm we land at Lakhpat,
fifteen minutes we spend here, after quick darshan we reach Ashapura again at 4
pm.. All this was possible only because of the great stamina, positive spirit and
persistence of Sangita, with a steady hand and lot of grit and patience… which
even male drivers at times may lack.
After a quick darshan
again we headed for Morbi, a stopover for dinner and back to Ahmedabad. Additional
drive of 330 kilometers, that too at night, was a commendable task done by
Sangita Patel only and only.. hats off to Wom-POWER!!
19 hours consistency, though with breaks is a record in
itself!!
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