The dark side of the Sonar Killa
"Ride on this one, sir!"
He looked like a boy of eleven, as he offered me to take a ride on his camel, into the vast sands of Jaisalmer.
camel boy : what's your name?
Me : Pulkit. What's yours?
camel boy : Salim
Me : Salam Salim bhai!
Salim glared back at me. Giving me the first sign that not everything is right in this idyllic place. My smile stuck, nonetheless, not knowing where to go.
I got onto the camel. Bargained with the camel owner, a much older man, for the price. Went on to the first vista point. And thereon, the camel owner left, leaving me and my family with the boys, who walked as we rode the camels deep into the Thar desert.
Sometime later, I garnered enough courage, and a question, to start a conversation.
Me : So which class do you study in?
Salim : I don't study.
I didn't know what to say next. I wasn't shocked. Its just that the question had never had such an answer. I would have usually known if the child I was talking to was not receiving any education.
Given that the starter didn't quite work, I tried to do away with the cheerful pretence, and instead dug deeper.
Me: Why don't you go to school?
No response.
Me: you take people out for rides in the evening, so you can go to school in the morning!
Salim : As if the 'seth' would allow me.
Seth is the boy's caretaker. He pays him for taking people to rides, and taking care of the camels.
Salim : He asks me to give the camel a bath, and give it fodder in the morning. That hardly leaves me with any time to go to school.
I was somewhat relieved that he didn't add "Besides, what would I learn there?". Though the fear of this answer kept me from bringing up a conversation on the importance of education.
What would he learn there?
Back to the circuit house in Jaisalmer, I had a fictitious conversation with Salim in the night.
Salim : Regardless of what I learn there, I would probably end up doing this job all my life. It would make no difference!
Me: At the very minimum, what you would learn about science, history, mathematics, humanities, would broaden your perspective. It would tell you that there is world beyond the dunes of Thar, that there are people with alternative lifestyles.
That there are possibilities beyond being a camel boy. That life is sometimes about making choices, and not following commands.
That you get a say in what you want to be.
It would tell you what it means to be free. Free of your seth. Free of the constraints which force you to walk like a silent, chained being on the sands of the Thar desert.
(to be continued)
