Salt making in the Little Rann of Kachchh – Gujarat, India

I took these pictures while doing a story on Agariyas of Gujarat. Surviving in an extremally difficult terrain, under the blistering sun, Agariyas manufacture for us a commodity that we call COMMON SALT. What we do not see is the kind of hard work that goes into producing this commodity that is so basic to our food. But the Agariyas who produce it in unrelenting conditions, in a place where there is no natural source of drinking water, no electricity
and not even a tree to sit under if tired, do not get even a hundreth of the price that we buy our salt at. THEY GET SEVEN PAISE PER KILOGRAM OF SALT.

But still, there is happiness in their lives. I asked why don’t they just leave this lifestyle and go to town to work there as a construction labourer or something. Atleast they will get better money. To this, Shantabhai, the protagnist of my salt story, replied:

Life is hassle-free in the Rann. We may earn less after all this struggle, but there are no worldly botherations of crime or authorities troubling. Who will want to come to this barren land, where there is no other resource except for brine, especially to trouble us. This is Agariyas’ land. We have our freedom here. We do not depend on somebody else for our income.

He is right. I stayed a night with Shantabhai’s family in the Rann. Somehow, I was not at all scared of the fact that I have known these people for only an hour and I do not even understand their language. For the first time in my life, I slept under open sky on a cot. And believe me, it was the best sleep one could get after a hot and tiring day. The wind that came from the sea did not let me feel the need for any kind of fan and THERE WERE NO MOSQUITOES which we usually asociate with sleeping out in the open It was, as if, there is only me between the land the sky, nothing else.

“If days are scorching here, nights are just marvelous,” said Shantabhai. I am totally with him. The next day we had a breakfast of thick Bajra chapatis and a chutney of garlic and red chilly. Really hot it was, like the Rann. Shantabhai’s wife saw our predicament and gave us jaggery and dates to assuage burning tongues. The only problem I faced though, was going to the loo. At 6 am in the morning, I was already late to wake up and find a place to relieve myself. In that barren expanse, I knew I will be made out, howsoever far I may go.

The school bell in the Rann is a broken mirror which Veer Singh, the senior secondary qualified local school teacher flashes towards faraway Agariya huts and the kids come running towards the school.

This is our only means of communication. If there is an emergency, one should flash the mirror faster,

he tells us. And you thought it is difficult to survive without your mobile phone!!

Another thing I was fascinated with was the innovative use of crude oil. I was stunned when I saw some Agariyas taking a break from loading a lorry of salt to watch a movie. Now where did this television come in this god forsaken place which is atleast 50 kilometres away from any kind of village or town and does not have electricity too!! Soon, Shantabhai explained to us the wonders of crude oil which was basically introduced in the Rann to pump out brine from land. A genset operating on crude oil was being used to power the television set and to light a bulb and to ride a bike that they modified to operate on crude (to get petrol, one has to go 50 kms to the nearest town and its expensive). But it has created problems too. There have been instances of acute burn injuries due to crude. And what else, it is banned; but for Agariyas, it is the cheapest fuel available, so they do not want to change to diesel of kerosene.

Agariyas are in the Rann for eight months a year. During monsoon, the sea water fills this low-lying area, making it a small lake where fishing takes place. Earlier, it was difficult for children of Agariyas to study because there were no schools in the Rann and it was difficult to leave them behind in the village for eight months. Here, NGOs came in and started informal schools in the Rann. Now, these children take their exams when they come to villages and some of them even stay in hostels. There is no break of studies and thus, no dropouts.

My story on salt making in the Little Rann of Kachchh will be uploaded on my magazine’s website next week. The problems Agariyas face due to reckless planning of the government has been discussed in detail in that article. Will be posting the link as soon as it is published.

Till then, enjoy these pictures that explain the LIFE IN THE RANN.
Stay tuned for next set of pictures.