“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams”
For the longest time, I could not find the right word to describe the first thing that struck me about sand dunes in the Thar Desert. I discovered that word a few months back — ephemeral.
Ever since my first visit, I have been fascinated by the ephemeral nature of the sand dunes. My series on Portraits of a desert is an ode to that.
The only constant thing about deserts is change, and the sand dunes are not spared either. There is a constant ebb and flow — the form, shape, texture, and if we look close enough, the colour, depending on the mood of the sun and the clouds.
However, there is more to sand dunes than just that.
Every time I look at sand dunes, I am reminded of a book of history. All through the day and night, a lot unfolds on these sand dunes. Animals big and small, like, birds, insects and reptiles live on the dunes, some use them as a passage, while some use them as battlegrounds — predator and prey battle it out in the quest for survival. Explorers like us walk across the dunes; leaving behind our imprint.
But the dunes, quietly, nonchalantly remove all traces and return to the same pristine condition, but it is never the same again. When you return the next day, true to the ephemeral nature of the sand dunes, the shapes and formations are different.
So many layers of history are hidden beneath these dunes; plenty of stories, several victories and defeats, all buried in the sands of time.