The Sounds of Silence

The mystical desert of Jaisalmer, the majestic 12th-century fort palace, and a juxtaposition of sounds and silences from 20 different countries the story of a unique 'museum' within a museum 

- Swati Subhedar

ON a November evening, just after the sunset, when the golden tint of the desert city of Jaisalmer transitioned into the magical postevening hues, a select group of guests, art enthusiasts and diplomats from around 50 countries headed towards a destination in the middle of nowhere. As they moved away from the touristy hustle and bustle, they had a rendezvous with the starry desert sky and silence. Amid pitch darkness, a row of lanterns led them to the ethereal Mool Sagar Palace, built in 1815 as the summer retreat for the royal family of Jaisalmer.

Inside the complex, dimly lit tea candles gave a mere glimpse of the palace. Light and shadow were playfully teasing each other. Just like sound and silence were. In one large jharoka, the manganiyars—the musicians of the desert—were creating soulful melodies through voice and instruments which were unamplified to retain the naturalness of the music so that it felt intimate with the surroundings. When the music faded in intervals, one could hear the elements of the night landscape—crickets, dogs barking at a distance, punctuation of truck horns zooming past on a barely visible highway, and silence—the kind of silence that transports you to an imaginary world, or, forces you to open the floodgates of memories. This was just a precursor to the juxtaposition of sound and silence that the guests and locals were to witness for the next two days (November 3-4).