• “On a chilly December night, I lay on the roof of a watch tower in the darkness

of India’s stark salt desert – the Little Rann of Kutch. The silence of the night
was occasionally broken by the howling of a lone jackal or the running
footsteps of a group of Asiatic wild asses. But the real show was unfolding
above – a Geminid Meteor Shower, with bright green shooting stars
falling through the dark skies!”
• World’s only refuge for the Indian Wild Ass
• These Asiatic Wild Asses migrated from Kabul, barely survived a deadly
disease and adapted to the cold, arid desert of the Little Rann. In 1971, their
habitat became a protected Wild Ass Sanctuary – India’s largest wildlife
sanctuary – and they share this arid space with blue sheep, blackbucks, Indian
fox and short-eared owls.
• Tracing the journey of salt
• 14% of India’s salt is made in large salt pans in the Little Rann – through back-
breaking work by local families who spend half the year in makeshift homes
in the desert heat. Hearing their life stories definitely put the food on my
table into perspective.
• An abandoned flamingo nesting colony
• When the water level falls after the monsoon in the Little Rann, the migratory
flamingos fly off with their young ones, abandoning the eggs that haven’t yet
hatched.
• Solitude in a white salt desert
• “When I confessed to my host that even though I wanted to see the white
desert of the more popular Great Rann, I wasn’t ready to share it with a
thousand other people, he took me to a secret place in the Little Rann which
accumulates salt too! Walking alone in that white, limitless space made me
feel like I was on another planet.”
•
• Gemenid Meteor Shower / Wish upon shooting stars
• I spent late nights on the roof of a watch tower in the Little Rann, watching the awe-
inspiring Gemenid Meteor Shower in the dark skies in the company of my host
– hatching plans to rent a boat and explore the Little Rann when it’s flooded in the
rains!
• Where to stay in the Little Rann of Kutch
• She stayed in a traditional kooba (circular mud hut) right across the road from the
Rann, set up by Devijibhai Dhamecha – a passionate environmentalist and wildlife
photographer, who was instrumental in the conservation of the Little Rann and its
wild ass sanctuary.
“Indeed, I could see wild asses trotting in the desert even from the charpai (traditional
rope bed) in her balcony!”
Q1. What is the name of the environmentalist?
Q2. What is the name of the author?
Q3. Why does the author mention Devijibhai Dhamecha?
Q4. Name any two of the surprises of The Little Rann of
Kutch.
Q5. Name the local snack mentioned in the chapter.
Q6. Where did the author stay?
Q1. 'The silence of the night was occasionally broken...'
a. What broke the silence of the night?
b. Where was the author? (answer the question referring
to the above extract)
c. What is the biggest surprise for the author?
Q 2. 'In 1971,their habitat became a protected wild
____sanctuary- India's largest wildlife sanctuary'
a. The Little Rann of Kutch is known as India's largest
wildlife sanctuary' for which animal or bird?
b. Name other animals who share the arid space of the
sanctuary.
c. Who refers to 'their' in the above extract?