Mohan Singh Sodha
Ex Army , Antiquarian
Kutch, Gujarat
According to scientific calculations, if we scale the age of Earth in twenty-four hour duration, human beings arrived only about four seconds ago. That’s actually mind-boggling! We , the human beings have seen nothing at all of this beautiful Earth. But time always leaves a trail…
We cannot of course go back to visualize history, but some people have special yearning to dig open intricate mysteries from the past. One of them is Mohansingh Sodha.
Based in the Kutch region of Gujarat, this man has made a massive collection of fossils in his early days from all around Kutch, and the number of collections goes up to an astonishing figure of 10000. Sodha was an army professional who fought the Indo-Pak war in 1971 and for his valor, was awarded the military honor of Shaurya Chakra.
It was after his army days, that Sodha stumbled upon a starfish fossil quite accidentally. He didn’t know what it was, but certainly understood it was something special. The starfish fossil actually steered his life to a new direction. Enthusiastic as he was, Sodha began his studies on fossils and it did not take long for him to understand that Kutch was a gold mine. Today Sodha is an old man in his eighties unable to trot the fields. His fossil park named as “Kutch Fossil Park” is looked after by his son, Vikramsingh Sodha. Vikramsingh is actually a tour operator and bird guide who also runs a property named as “Kunj, The Birding Homestay”.
It was just by sheer coincidence that we came across this young and enthusiastic birder during our birding trip in Kutch. Being a biodiversity and wildlife zone, it is also an attractive aspect of Kutch Tourism along with the White Salt Desert and the local culture. But not many people have heard about Kutch Fossil Park built by Senior Sodha.
It was indeed a pleasure to make our tour to the small and makeshift museum beside the Kunj Homestay. Nothing very glamorous, the one room area had fossils in every corner. A huge collection of Invertebrate fossils like Ammonites, Belemnites, Brachiopods, Bivalves, Gastropods, corals and Echinoderms were displayed. Vertebrate fossils like sea cow, dinosaurs and shark teethes occupied another shelf. So were plant fossils, wood fossils, Trace fossils, minerals, quartz that were also present. There is also a nice collection of different igneous and sedimentary rocks.
We also saw a fossil of a dinosaur’s egg, the embryo could be felt moving inside has been fossilized in due course of time. There is a seven feet long sea cow fossil that bears special mention. When this particular fossil was examined, it was thought to be a new species not known earlier. It was a scientifically important species, and IIT Roorkee named it as Domningia sodhae, after Sodha himself.
Besides being in the tourist map of the world because of its Rann festival, The mind-blowing landscapes of the White salt desert, the unmistakable cultural traits , I believe , one should also appreciate the devotion and contribution of this man who have spent his entire life collecting history! Young Sodha says that they are now uncertain about how to safeguard and protect this huge national treasure, and he has sought after government help. The Senior Sodha always maintained “this is not my property this is a wealth of India”. We hope the concerned authority will take notice and take steps to nurture and preserve the valuable pieces of history for the future generations.
Story and research by Sounak Dutta
Sounak Dutta is a Professor in Chemistry and a travel blogger. He has been an avid traveler , nature photographer and writer.
