White Sand

 

The white sands came up suddenly 

Engulfing us

Of course I had read about the Rann

And seen images of wild asses running 

In my geography book in school

Later Nat Geo and Discovery told me things

But nothing matched the stories that the white sands told me

 

They told me that Kutch was an island till a couple of centuries ago

An island once the rains came in

The Indus flowed furious in those months

Enveloping the land on two sides

While the sea played on the other shores

 

For seven months it was an island

Then the sun beat down

Dried the waters

First it changed to a marsh

Finally only the white salt was left behind

Then the dust would blow up

The salt started to turn brown

Till the rains came and the land became an island again