The slanting wall of red sandstone stands high in front of me. The GPS device held on my right hand is directing me to climb up the wall. It will be a blatant lie if I say that at that moment, the thought of skipping that part of the transect did not cross my mind. But well, the curiosity of looking above the tower of rocks, somehow dominated. The early morning chilling weather of the desert also favoured my decision.
I was already standing at a position from where our car was not visible. My fellow observer, our field assistant was at the opposite end of my zigzag shaped study transect and hence also not visible. I checked my phone once and as expected, the network triangles were completely blank. So, I am all alone in this journey through the arid mysterious landscape. Every time such a situation arrives, it gives me an adrenaline rush. A momentary pleasure of going solo? A very short vague one I will say, because I know our driver and field assistant is just a few meters away. But just for that particular moment, I feel a different tinge of adventure running through my veins.
With the clipboard of data sheets and range finder in one hand, a binocular hanging around my neck, and GPS on another hand, I started stepping up the rocks. I immediately regret not carrying my backpack, which I have left in the car. I don’t know why I always try pretending to be this unnecessary superwoman, which I am terrible at being.
As I struggled to find proper holds for my steps on the puddle of loose gravels and stones, a gecko which was probably resting under those now displaced rocks, scanted and made a huge leap away to find another hiding. I tried noting down the details of its feature in my memory for identifying the species later.
Time and again I got distracted by the intricate patterns engraved on the surface of the rocks. For years, waves of the fierce wind blowing in the vast open landscape have lashed on these surfaces and have printed parallel lines of fingerprints on them. A palette of red, brown, black and white colour spread carelessly by some amateur artist. The red sandstone had a distinct porous pattern with pores of varied diameters. I have read that this Jaisalmer district was under an ocean in the prehistoric period and several marine fossils, especially from the Jurassic period has been discovered from this area. This landscape is massively popular among geologists for its huge treasure of fossils of both flora and fauna from different eras. The layers of different rocks which are apparently formations from different geological time periods are begging to tell stories of evolutionary history to every passerby. Just everyone is not trained enough to decipher their language, and I am also sadly one of them. I reached at the top of the hillock. I scanned the surroundings from that elevated area and was perplexed by the extraordinary beauty. The vast barren area with undulating elevation and depression formed by these coloured rocks and a bed of sand scantily dotted by some trees or shrubs gave me an eerie feeling. Not a single human or human settlement was visible in miles. Only the wind turbines standing tall amidst this extensive nature reminded me of human presence.
The Sun was already glazing with its golden rays but February temperature was still quite pleasant. I spotted a long legged buzzard soaring at a distance, probably out looking for some snack to dive into, or just lazily enjoying the fresh breeze of morning Sun. I felt this mighty raptor amidst this arid desert was trying to explain to me its love for solitude and independence. I continued my survey along my set transect path searching for bird carcasses. I found a strange resemblance of myself with that raptor.
While coming down the hillock, I was carefully placing my steps to avoid slipping downhill on loose gravels. Suddenly a half spherical loose rock caught my attention. I picked it up and stared at the peculiar spiral design on it for a few seconds. 'Is it really what I am thinking it is?' I really couldn’t believe that I have actually found a fossil! It was an ammonite fossil, which is a primitive marine animal which existed around 240-65 million years ago and became extinct with the dinosaurs. I was holding in my hands the very proof of this entire landscape being under an ocean millions of years ago. Since childhood, while watching/reading such movies or books on evolution, I have always fantasised about excavating a fossil on my own. In a very unexpected manner, the dream came true on that day.
It’s a treasure that I found and possess. A treasure gifted to me by this mighty desert.
Nice way of writing...👍