BLANK CANVAS

We take the Kia Seltos on a roadtrip to the Rann of Kutch for India’s only live wildlife photography contest

- AFZAL RAWUTHER

A CLOUD OF DUST. SPINNING the car around in circles, I had lost track of which direction I was pointing in. A moment later pieces of dry, uprooted earth had settled on the windshield. I drove the Kia Seltos a little further to escape the cloud and in the process cleared the windshield of the debris. Still no clue as to where the rest of our crew was. We were in our very own playground and in that moment, it mattered very little that the sun was setting and I was lost.

Behind the wheel of the Seltos, I could see the vast expanse of the Rann stretch out in front of me. The Rann is like a blank canvas. In fact, it’s the closest you can get to one in nature. It is thoroughly featureless and yet undeniably beautiful. And from inside this tech-laden, leatherette-draped cabin of the Seltos, the contrast was stark. Here, I was looking at a digital cluster, with soft ambient lights adding a gentle glow to compliment the setting sun. And beyond, all I could see was this vast expanse of nothingness in every direction. It hides a canvas that imbues images with colours that are hard to find elsewhere. To anyone who has never been to the Rann before, it comes across as a shock. The dusty, dry plains lead all the way to the horizon and the starkness of the brown earth against the blue sky is something you don’t see anywhere else.

But what were we doing here? Well, several of the country’s premier wildlife photographers and filmmakers were set to assemble in the Rann of Kutch for India’s only live wildlife photography contest and we, at