A Night in the Thar

With a lot of doubts and fears inside, the three of us accompanied Sudhaam to the place where he said he would take us. The world is such these days that it’s not easy to trust people, even if they mean good. But now when I look back, it seems funny how I kept looking around myself for any strange sounds or any kind of danger. But none came. We kept walking a while on the cold sand and finally reached the place where we had set out for. The sight in front of us took some time to sink in as we had never seen something even close to this before. There was darkness all around except for the tiny speckles of light over the horizon on all sides. Sudhaam pointed us to a really feeble cluster of lights in one direction and told us that it’s the Indo-Pak border. The fact that we were this close (60 kms) to Pakistan gave us the chills!

And that is when I got a proper look at the sky. Breathtaking is the word to describe what was in front of us. The sky was studded with millions and zillions of stars. Now, one may feel, what is so special about that. This is something you get to see everywhere! But what made it special for me was the infinity in front of us, surrounding us all through. Standing on the highest sand dune around with the cold desert wind slightly swishing by, and watching the stars twinkling in the sky, it’s a feeling that cannot be expressed in words!

Sudhaam told us we could sit for some time if we wanted to. I was reluctant at first owing to the fear looming around. But as they say, even if something bad happens in the pursuit of something you love, it’s worth it. And I whispered to my heart that this was something I might never get a second chance at. And true enough, when you look over your fears and live in whatever is in front of you, that is when you truly feel alive! We lay down on the cold sand and tried to take in the beauty of the sky as much as we could, because what was in front of us was something that could only be captured in our hearts and not in any other frames. The picture is still crystal clear in my mind and I hope it stays like that forever!

We spent some more time lying there. The silence was such that I could almost hear my thoughts out loud. Luckily, my long-time wish of watching a shooting star also came true that night. I had thought of so many wishes to ask for when I saw a shooting star, but in that moment, nothing came to my mind. It was as if, in that instance, I had everything I’ve ever wanted, as if I had the whole world at my feet.

Then we sat up and had a little conversation with Sudhaam. From what we got to know from him, this was something he did on a daily basis, taking the travelers up to this point up in the desert, to watch the night sky. And I thought, how lucky he must be, getting to watch this each and every single day. But life isn’t fair to everyone every time. An experience like this might be something we could kill for, but to people like Sudhaam, this might be more of a compulsion, to earn a living. Who knows, he might be dreaming of a life out of the desert, out amidst the shiny skyscrapers in the cities!

Traveling makes you wise, it actually teaches you a lot. And what this taught me is that some risks are worth taking, some sleeps are worth forgoing, and the world isn’t as bad a place as you think it to be. Good people still exist and they wish for your happiness, asking nothing in return. Being someone who loves night-outs, this was one of the best in my life so far. And the memory of this one night will be etched in my heart forever!