In Camel Country, A Vanishing Act

Camel milk is a superfood. But this niche product may not be enough to arrest a slide in population

- Sayantan Bera

Karna Ram knows the truth about himself. It's a calling, actually, conferred on him by a divine decree and a long line of ancestors. A calling which lightens his being and gives meaning to his life. Ram is a caregiver and protector of camels. Doesn't matter if everyone else is giving up. Ram will die a camel herder. That's who I am. That's what my heart wants, Ram says.

About seven years back, after months of prodding by his wife, Ram sold his herd of 25 camels and migrated to Maharashtra to work on daily wages at a roadside eatery, miles away from home. It made no economic sense to raise camels. Trade in camels had collapsed after the Rajasthan government introduced a law in 2015, which banned slaughter and transport of camels beyond the state's borders.

Ram worked for two months in Pune. Then he scurried back home, unable to take the grind. Next, he built his herd back, one camel at a time.

With a 40-strong herd of mostly female camels, Ram now makes around ₹30,000 a month selling camel milk. More importantly, he gets to spend nights-on-end under starlit skies with his herd. But the future remains bleak—little has changed in the last seven years.

"The tide has turned against us. So, I will not push my son into this," Ram says, sitting on a charpoy in his courtyard as evening falls in Dantiwada village in Pali, Rajasthan. The giant animals in the open courtyard move their long necks, wanting to be petted by the master. In the dark, they resemble prehistoric dinosaurs about to fade out.