Trading camels in Rajasthan

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http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_features.php?id=298521

November 26, 2007 11:26 AM

 

 

*Camel Trade In The Rajasthan Desert*

 

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*By P. Vijian*

 

RAJASTHAN, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- The dry dusty desert of Rajasthan blooms into

an oasis of camels every November as tourists and camel traders strip the

desert to bare the vibrant Rajasthani culture and tradition.

 

The century-old and largest camel fair in the world comes to live, an

irresistible annual fair for animal traders and foreigners.

 

Pushkar is the place, in the northwestern state of India, where every year

camel traders from all over India and holiday-makers transform the deserted

desert into a mega carnival.

 

With a natural setting, cradled by mountains and sand dunes, Pushkar is a

mesmerising venue in Rajasthan -- here men don large vibrant gaudy turbans

and women with large nose rings draped in multi-coloured sarees and

waist-length blouses lend more colour to the fair.

 

But it's the colourfully dressed and wiry-legged camels paraded by breeders

that steal the show during the weeklong animal trade fair.

 

*300,000 PEOPLE EXPECTED TO CONVERGE*

 

An estimated 300,000 people are expected to converge at this year's fair

where some 30,000 camels, young and old one-humped mammals, are being traded

between RM500 to RM10, 000 (5,000 rupees to 100,000 rupees).

 

" Camel traders from Rajasthan, Gujarat and other parts of India come to this

fair. They come here to buy and sell camels.

 

" Since the last three or four years the fuel cost has shot up, so poor

farmers use camels for transportation, plough their land and for tourism

purposes, " Hanwant Singh Rathore, a local camel breeder told Bernama.

 

At the fair, Rajasthani men, mostly from the " Raika " tribe known for

breeding camels, parade their prized animals hoping to earn some hard cash

to sustain their livelihoods in the far-flung under-developed state.

 

Under the scorching desert heat, for some three kilometers, a variety of

make-shift stalls at the fair sell all sorts of items from traditional

Indian delicacies, local handicrafts to camel accessories such as bells,

anklets and beads to decorate the even-toed mammal.

 

*A MAGNIFICIENT REVELRY*

 

Besides, folk dances, camel rides, roaming sadhus (Hindu holy man), song and

music brighten the fair - taking away the daily miseries of the people, at

least once a year.

 

Camels are important part of Rajasthan's rich culture, especially for the

Raika tribe, which depend on the mammal for their livelihoods. But the

sunset brings heartburns for Rajasthani camel breeders too, despite all the

fanfare.

 

Camel population is dwindling and camel breeding is less rewarding these

days and official statistics say only an estimated 490,000 camels exist now

in the state, half of the number in 1998.

 

" They are dwindling rapidly because people don't have proper income from

camel breeding, the younger generation is no longer interested and grazing

land is fast disappearing.

 

" There is no sustainable income generation programme for breeders here, "

said Dr Ilse Kohler Rollefson, project coordinator of the Lokhit Pashu-Palak

Sansthan, a non-governmental organisation involved in helping the struggling

camel-herders community.

 

-- BERNAMA