Camels remind me of my friend - let’s call her Radha.. She could not decide what qualities she was looking for in her life partner. She liked different people for different reasons - their looks, intelligence, humor, reading and other qualities that she was attracted to. Her mother once told her that she was looking for a camel.
Why camel? Because viewed in parts it is endowed with so much beauty – lovely eyes, strong body, impressive height, graceful legs and above all perseverance to struggle through the toughest deserts. But overall, none too impressive unlike a horse or a tiger. We found this very interesting and mercilessly teased her with scenes of her being married to a camel.
An animal that is a melange of so many features? Sounds funny? Actually there are other people, strangely from remote Mongolia who share this thought. There is a Mongolian folktale which says that the camel wanted to be one of the Zodiac signs and since all the signs were already taken, Buddha gave it an attribute of each of the animals in the Zodiac:
The ears of the mouse, the stomach of the cow, the paws of the tiger, the nose of the hare, the body of the dragon, the eyes of the snake, the mane of the horse, the wool of the sheep, the hump of the ape, the head crest of the rooster, the crooked back legs of the dog and the tail of the pig.
So next time you see this humped and unwieldy animal, look at it again. May be you will be as impressed as I am of its beautiful eyes full of thought and its sagely air totally impervious to silly worldly things. I actually love this animal now. For a few months now I have been regularly noticing a few camels in my neighbourhood. For 5 or 10 rupees children are taken on a ride and everyone is happy. Not everyone perhaps as I am told that the hooves of camels are made for traversing sandy deserts and not city roads which are actually quite painful for their feet. I am surprised that PFA, PETA etc have not raised their voices and these camel rides are available right outside the palace in Mysore. 
Not all camels are unimpressive. In fact the Bactrian camels of the Gobi desert can, in my opinion, qualify among the top ten beautiful animals if there were to be a beauty pageant for animals. With their natural furry coats, lovely eyes and undulating gait. Please watch the film “The story of the weeping camel”. In this documentary film on a nomadic shepherd family in the Gobi desert, you will see some of the most beautiful camels. And the story is very touching too.
A mother camel rejects its calf after a difficult labour. It refuses to feed its baby and kicks it away every time it approaches. The calf suffers from the neglect and the shepherd family is worried. In an effort to save the rare white calf they get a musician to play the kind of fiddle called Morinn Khurr from the nearest city to come and play his music in a kind of folk ritual. Though initially resistant, the camel mother slowly begins to respond to the music and is moved to tears and finally it accepts its baby and feeds it with tenderness.
Very charming! Very sweet!!
The life of these shepherds seems so uncluttered and uncomplicated that makes you long for a life like theirs - closer to nature guided by simple rules.
In the film, in a ritual to honour Nature and its spirits , a Buddhist Lama says:
“Nowadays, mankind plunders the earth more and more in search of her treasures. This drives the spirits away, that should protect us from bad weather and from diseases.
We have to remember that we are not the last generation on earth.”
I suppose it is never too late to remind ourselves of this and take steps to leave a better world for our children. Will we?
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Hey, Brat
14 hours ago
16 comments:
Thats an interesting way to look at Camel's beauty ... never looked at it that way !!
Btw, I think Camel rides are available within Mysore (in residential areas)... if it makes the Camels uneasy ... I think something ought to be done for them.
Though I admit, I didn't know this .. my daughter enjoyed her camel ride 2 years back.
...The life of these shepherds seems so uncluttered and uncomplicated that makes you long for a life like theirs - closer to nature guided by simple rules...
So, why don't you Usha? What's stopping you? All you have to do is to purchase a ticket to Joshi Mutt, Yerkaud, or some such place, write a check to your favorite charity for all your net worth, save some to provide you with an income of a couple of thousand Rpm, and leave :)
Seems is the keyword here! I have seen the film, and I have seen other documentaries on life in Mangolia. "Story of the Weeping Camel", "Wild Horses of Mongolia with Julia Roberts", etc., are romanticized and sanitized looks at the life in Mongolia. The landlocked country is ranked 19th in the world in area (larger than Spain, France and Germany combined), but sparsely populated (138th in the world). 30% of its population are below the poverty line.
Living with nature is far harsher than how green it looks from the other side (pun intended). There is a perfectly good reason why neither Byambasuren Davaa or Julia Roberts don't live in the Mongolian steppes. I might even hazard a guess that few, if any, really choose to live there!
Believe me, it's a jungle even out here, close to but not in nature! And, sorry to punch a hole in the bubble :(
CA: Well Karnataka roads are bad for humans too - nobody does anything about that either leave alone the camels who don't even protest. :)
The RF: I know that the charm of a pastoral life or life out in the open is always romantic from the other side - especially when you have gotten used to a different way of life.
But I do hope to return to a simpler way of life although it isn't that easy as writing a check and purchasing a ticket in my current state of life. Long story - might require a few miles walk on the shores of a lake or in the foothills of a mountain. Let me know when you have the time and inclination. hehehehe
I still think it is possible to de-clutter one's life and mind and get closer to Nature without transporting oneself literally to some wilderness.
It is Darwin's survival of the fittest that eventually has led man to believe that this species is superior to other ones on the planet. India has its roots deeply embedded in the idea of coexistence and respect for diversity hence so many rituals and beliefs surrounding animals and plants as a mark of respect. I dont remember the doha, I think Kabir also writes about who gave man the right to kill and destroy other species when he is just one among all the species and no superior to the others
Phew Usha! an ode to thje camel! very informative and interesting.
yes i heard about the camels having trouble on concrete road many years ago and as a kid i stopped riding camels pretty early on. bt recently when there was a camel in the lane near by, i gave in and let Cubby have a camel ride. now he knows camel and calls is camama! :)
and i agree with the rational fool. we all love to romaticize simple living and how happy the poor seem. but the hardships are far more and we wont be ble to survive it even for a day. like he said the keyword here is indded Seem! :)
yet again, lovely lovely post!
cheers!
abha
ps: do we live around the same area? :)
Well, all that is fine but what happened to 'Radha', did she find her camel?
Strange,I've been worrying about the world our children stand to inherit from us and here comes your beautiful post.i admit that I did not look at the camel this way.In fact i did not bother to think of it at all.our fables too have stories of most animals but the dear old camel is perhaps left out.The saying 'speak up if you wish to be heard and stand up if you wish to be seen' does not seem to apply for this patient desert crosser.good you took sides and i wish i were a camel and cud say 'thank you very much'.
Usha gaaru,
I have been reading your blogs since many months but never commented.
Delurking to say that I love your blog and the variety of topics you blog about with unfailing humor.
Regards,
Jyothy.
Better an ugly, angulate ungulate with qualities that matter, rather than the seemingly immaculate, articulate cad you think you to want to osculate but end up wanting to strangulate.
Very well written, Usha. Will always see the camel in different light now - and thanks for that :)
-g
Nice one Usha. We lived in Ahmedabad in an area where there were some camels - never admired them. But my perspective might be different if we see them again.
i never thought about it till now. the camel has padded feet and is meant to be walking on soft sands. i can hardly imagine what they must be going through walking on these roads.
and about the uncluttered life... the grass is always greener.....
I have been on a Camel ride before. It was fun. Your friend's description of groom, reminds me of the scene from Mudhalvan where Arjun explains how his wife should be to his father. Like Gobi Desert, is there a Paneer desert? or a Gobi Manchurian desert? Incidentally I just had Gobi masala for lunch.
Very thought provoking. Never once visualised a camel this way. Any idea about its water storing capability, where did it get this one from or is it unique to the camel???
I was feeling fine till I read this post and now I've got the hump....
Nice informative post Usha - and a little romanticism and idealism can go a long way to making the world a better place.
What an interesting post Usha! "We have to remember that we are not the last generation on earth.” Too true.
I love Camels' eyes too.
Camels have the most melting eyes, with the largest sweep of eyelashes (supposed to held shield desert sand and dust hurting their eyes) that give them a permanent dreamy expression.
I too dream of leading a simple, austere life but I am too much of a modern creature used to sloth to forgo TV, internet, phone, kettle, stove, gas connection, bed, fans, lights, bidet, shower and the flush and a pedicure.
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