desert … arid, dryness… dehydration, oasis… the sands are, for obvious reasons, representative of desolation, dreariness and despondence… a rite of passage beyond which lie many a virtue – justice, fame, wealth, enlightenment… the ramblings on enjoying the journey rather than the destination doesn’t really ring true in these landscapes though…

in the face of it, ‘tis a carpet of soft sand… walk on the carpet a while, the silica begins to show up… if anyone’d doubts on how one could conjure glass out of sand, a peep at the ragged flesh twixt the toenails would clarify… deserts are an epitome of living on the extremes, as if the pendulum only cares about potential energy, kinetic be damned… a perfect canvas to philosophize…

lifeless at the surface, yet there is a humdrum of activity burying itself under the sand to save itself for nocturnal dances, while raptors sit in full alert of their perch or pencil concentric circles in the sky in hope of someone who takes an exception to the rule, their calls unsure of whether they are breaking or adding to the melancholy…

a desert accumulates small nuggets of life though, slowly but surely, and then we see them turn, vegetation sprouting up to greet thunderstorms… for in terms of (cyclical) eons, what is barren shall be green and the whatever gloats in green shall one day be deserted… thus deserts bide their time, simmering in the sun and mellowing with the moon, sometimes cajoling the clouds to quench a thirst…

life is sparse, and therefore has a bit more of individuality in the desert, every shrub, tree, bird, reptile, critter or camelid has its own lore of resilience to sing… unlike mountain scenery, its undulations don’t block the view, rather they kind of guide the view through the contours unto infinity, but like mountain landscapes, a desert is as humbling once one starts traversing the vista, sinking into its shallow yet unending depths…

musings on desert landscapes of Rajasthan…