Memories of Bhuj

Kutch has, over a period of long isolation, evolved a distinct culture with Bhuj as its centre. S. THEODORE BASKARAN recalls his visits to the region which has now been destroyed by the earthquake.

WHEN asked if he was a Gujarati, my friend Siddharth Buch would reply sternly: "I am a Kutchi." Only when I visited Kutch, years later, did I understand the import of his pride. The region is so distinct, in every dimension, dress, cuisine, handicrafts and architecture. Bound on one side by the Gulf of Kutch, and surrounded on the other sides by the Great and Little Ranns, Kutch has, over centuries-long isolation, evolved a distinct culture, with Bhuj as the seat of the Kingdom.

The people of the region are friendly, spontaneous and colourful. You have the pastoral nomads like the Bharwads and Rabaris, who move across the landscape in single file, with their dogs, camels and tents. Some of their settlements are around Bhuj. They have a rich repertoire of ballads and in the evenings you could hear their chorus wafting by. There are artisans among them who produce exquisite woolen embroidery and lacquer works.

At the periphery of the inhospitable, desolate Rann is the Banni area, with some shrubs and such vegetation. Here there are little islands of habitation known as bhets and there are communities living in round huts called koobas. Once, trying to sight the migratory bird, Houbara bustard, my wife and I stayed in a kooba at the periphery of the Little Rann. We saw thousands of cranes and a short-eared owl but missed the bustard.

Bhuj itself is a town out of the pages of history. When you walk the streets of this town, much of it inside early 18th Century Bhujia fort, the sight of men riding on horseback, donkey drawn carts and heavily carved doorways transports you a few centuries back. The British captured it in 1819 but built their cantonment a few kilometres away. After Independence, the Raja of Kutch, Madan Singh was appointed Indian Ambassador to Norway. The labyrinthine lanes inside the fort are flanked by little shops selling exquisite Kutch silver jewellery. At one end of the lake are the memorial tombs, called chatris, of the members of the royal family. The biggest of them is Rao Lakha's tomb, with many exquisite carved panels. Sadly, these monuments which withstood the 1956 earthquake, have been razed to the ground this time.

Outside the fort is Hamirsagar Lake, a large water body that sustains the town of Bhuj and attracts a myriad of migratory birds. Gujarat is a bird-friendly state; people do not harm the birds here and they, in turn, have grown very trusting. Nowhere else can you see migratory ducks like widgeon, mallards and pintails at such close quarters.

The endearing Gujarati practice of feeding birds in the morning is a common sight in Bhuj. The wildlife of Kutch is also distinct - the wild asses of the Rann, the desert fox and the flamingoes in their breeding colonies. When we stopped to attend to a heated radiator, on our way to Ropar, we could see a pair of jackals watching us unmindfully, from behind a bush. Along the edge of Rann, we spotted quite a few chinkaras, a graceful antelope.

If Gujarat has the pride of Indian cuisine, Kutchi food, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, is truly God's gift to the gastric juices, as Jeeves would say. In some of the restaurants in Bhuj, you could taste each dish before you place your order. Once driving along the Rann, in the Banni area, we came across an old man working busily with his kadai, making a sweet out of milk and gur. We waited till he finished, and tasted the most memorable sweet we have ever had the privilege of savouring.

To the north west of Bhuj, about 60 km away, at the very edge of the Great Rann, is Dholavira, the Harappan civilisation site. This 50 hectare site, the largest in India, has been excavated only in the last decade and is attracting the attention of archaeologists from all over the world. We stayed overnight at Ropar, watched a spectacular sunrise over the featureless Rann as we drove along that super highway laid by the Border Roads.

It ended at Dholavira, at the fringe of the Rann and we spent an unforgettable day at the site. The news is that the excavated structures at this Harappan site have crumbled after the quake and are now just a heap of rubble.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Next     : Ensuring transparency