On a recent full moon night, I had the good fortune of visiting the famous White Rann, in the Greater Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), Gujarat. It is an utterly desolate landscape composed of salt formed by the drying up of saline marshes of the Gulf of Kachchh, which shares its border with Pakistan. The late evening moon cast odd shadows on the stark heaps of white. Thanks to the white background and bright moonlight, my camera’s autometering had to be adjusted, which took quite some time. The end result were interesting pictures intermittently scalloped with black. During the dry phase, very few creatures, plant and animal, are known to inhabit this unique desert habitat. The dryness caused by the hygroscopic salt and the light reflected from the white substrate makes the open landscape burning hot by day and freezing cold during the night. Even the thought of wandering deep into this vast expanse was scary.

A peacock at Sanjay Gandhi National Park