Dunes of dismay

On the occasion of our 7 th anniversary, we chose Rajasthan. A trip pending for long, had to be planned. I would post a longer, separate piece about travel information and what not to miss, but this is not that.

Jaisalmer - golden city. We had two different kinds of stays here. One in the middle of desert, in the tents, and the other at a hotel. Upon entering Jaisalmer,We proceeded directly to the desert stay, crossing the city, traveling another hour towards Pakistan boundary. Sand everywhere, small settlements ('dhani'), many checkposts, an experience to have. We soon reached our tents. In the middle of sea of sand.

At the tents, we were welcomed and were told that soon we can go for our camel ride and see the sunset from dunes. We kept luggage in the tent and proceeded for the ride. We both were to go on the same camel. There was a young man, in his early 20s, who helped us. An anxious and fumbled, yet a successful attempt, and we were aboard. And within a minute we were taken by surprise. The person at the helm (noose?) was a young boy, not more than 10. 

There was a crowd of emotions and thoughts in my mind. He is so young, can he really do it?, Why does he have to do it? Such a bright boy... What's the deal? It was also the same time, when the ride was going uphill. Both of us held each other tight, telling each other soon it will be over and we can be on land. To get out of chaos in my mind, I started a conversation with the boy. Ali lived in nearby village, 10 km further towards the boundary. We gathered that we have no reason to fear, he is an expert at what he does.

Finally we reached dunes, not more than 3 km away from tents. As soon as, we reached there, we were joined by Salim, another 10 or so, young and bright boy. He helped us get down. He came with a cement gunny bag turned into a cold storage with few ice slabs in it. He was eager to sell cold drink. He insisted that we buy a 10 rupee bottle for 40 rupees. He insists that we buy, because this is off season, we must. After exchanging a glance at each other, we did buy. All 4 of us sat down. We took turns in asking and answering questions. It went something like this -

Sushruth - स्कूल जाते हो आप? Do you go to school?

Salim - नही सर, स्कूल तो चलती ही नही यहां . No sir, school doesn't run at all.

Sushruth - पसंद है आप को स्कूल ? अगर शुरु हो जाए, तो जाना चाहोगे ? do you like school? If it runs, will you go?

Salim - हाँ, क्यू नही? हमे तो स्कूल जाना अच्छा लगता है | कभी कोई मास्टर आ जाते है, फिर चले जाते है. वैसे तो  स्कूल बंद ही है कब का। हम ने तिसरी कक्षा तक पढाई  की है?why not sir? I like it in school. But teacher is not available at all. Someone comes, sometimes, but it is mostly shut. I've studied till 3rd. But after that school never opened.

I - उमर क्या है आपकी? what is your age?

Salim -  दस साल होगी। 10, maybe

I- और आपकी? and yours?

Ali - 10

Salim - मेरा बडा भाई यहा जैसलमेर मे  स्कूल पढता है। उसे हर महिना 2000 रुपये भेजना है। उसका होस्टल है। छटी कक्षा मे है। have a brother, who studies in Jaisalmer. We need to send 2000 rupees to him every month. He's in school with hostel. He studies in 6 th.

I (to both) - आपके पिताजी क्या काम करते है?what about your father?

Both of them - कुछ नही, छोटा बडा कुछ कर लेते है।nothing much, works here and there.

Sushruth - भाई  बहन? how many siblings do you have?

Salim - 4

Ali - 3

Salim - आप लोग कहाँ से आए हो?where are you people from?

Sushruth - Pune

The conversation went on, and we found out that, all their siblings, uncles have similar means of livelihood. August - September being the 'off - season' for Rajasthan, they were finding themselves financially compromised with each passing day. We learnt that Ali gets 1000 rupees a month and has to look after the camel from that amount itself. Thus, his livelihood depends mainly on 'tips' from the tourists. The whole 90 - 100 minutes on those dunes felt like forever. The clash of the snail pace of the life in the desert and torrent of thoughts made us question everything around our own reality.

When will education reach them? Who are we to decide what education should they get? But, isn't it their right that they be part of the mainstream education? Who will Salim and Ali be in another 10 - 15 years? What is my responsibility? What are 10 year olds all over the country, in both urban as well as rural parts doing at this very moment? 

This made us realize that dominant ideas of childhood, changing needs and requirement of rural children in modern techno - economic society and so many other aspects of childhood in general need to be studied, with all its limits and scope. (Also, was reminded of an article by Krishna Kumar - Studying childhood in India). 

The struggle for sustenance has made Ali wise beyond his years.I have captured their faces on camera. However, neither do I have courage to display their innocence here nor it is just about Ali or Salim. There are many of them. This photograph captured Ali, Salim, and some of their friends. The photograph is out of focus and blurred, a little like their lives, I felt.