Wildbuzz: Moonless race to Longewala

The Hell Race Border Ultra (marathon) is run over 161 km of the Thar desert. Chandigarh’s Munish Jauhar, 47, did it recently in 19.06 hours — nine hours ahead of the cut-off time — finishing fifth. It was a surreal odyssey from Jaisalmer to Longewala as a major part of Jauhar’s run was in darkness where the human spirit streaking across the sands is pitted against the flesh and earthly forces in a grand cosmic arena. To Jauhar, on reflection, it recalled the words of American ultra-runner and author Dean Karnazes: “If you want to talk to God, run an ultra!”
“Running at night was challenging. Fatigue had started to set in after six hours of the daylight run. It started getting really cold and I was alone in the middle of nowhere as the lead runners were well spread out. It was quite a task to convince my mind to keep moving. However, the skies were crystal clear and one could see infinite stars shining on a moonless dome. During the entire night of my run, very few cars traversed that route. There was pin drop silence and one could hear each and every sound of nature, be it insects chirping or leaves rustling. I encountered shining green eyes and the outline indicated a small wild cat species. There was no real danger from creatures such as leopards or snakes. The danger was from the two-legged and the most dangerous creature of all, humans! During the pre-race briefings, we had been instructed that if someone does approach, one should simply say one is from the Army and that will act as a deterrence. The other hazard was again one associated with humans: I was wary of encountering local dogs,” Jauhar told this writer.
“The race had commenced at noon and I started out a bit conservatively under the harsh sun. The temperature rose to 26° C. Being a birder helped as I was on the lookout for wildlife and it kept my mind distracted from fatigue. I saw house sparrows, white-eared bulbuls, brown rock chats, babblers, doves etc. After the race, I spent time at the nearby Desert National Park and observed uncommon species and majestic raptors,” Jauhar added.
Silent mists lost in time
The Sun god having mostly abandoned us since December 30, the Shivalik jungles behind the tricity bear a stilled look, as if an artwork of misty impressionism frozen in time. A ramble through the ravines affords a connect with nature quite different from a sunny excursion. The twitter of avians is subdued in icy afternoons. The sambar, which are easily startled by human presence and crash into the undergrowth after sounding a sharp alarm call, are currently loath to eject themselves from a sheltered spot. The butterflies, whose wings beat as silently as fluttering eyelashes on a warm day, prefer to perch with wings opening and closing like the heartbeat of a serene sage. Creatures adopt the strategy of conserving energies, for death’s icy clasp is close at hand.
However, for a naturalist keen to savour the vagaries of nature, icy days are a novelty. Since birds have tucked themselves away in some mostly nook, quality time can be spent observing branches, trunks, leaves, vines, petite florets, fruits and roots that suffer neglect when we are focused on avian ogling. As we gaze upon their majesty, the humble trees seem to find a voice in the mists and look us back shyly in the eye. An endless variety of flora is sipped by a keen eye roving the undisturbed jungles.
With the mists lending a moist texture to the sands of dry rivulets, the eye can turn to solving the mystery of presences that have passed by. Sands preserve footprints of four-legged creatures that have traversed these tracks in ghostly hours and spotted only by the winking stars. Leopard pugmarks are easy. It is the impressions left by the smaller wild cats — civets, jackals etc that one strains their mind assessing.
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