BOOK OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER 2015

                                                             
Title          : Camel Karma
Author      : Ilse Köhler-Rollefson
Pages        : 404
Publisher  : Westland Ltd.
Price         : Rs 435.00
ISBN        : 10-9384030635

Dr. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson is a German-born veterinarian, self-described as ‘lover of camels and advocate of livestock culture’. Over thirty years ago, after debuting as a traditional rural veterinarian, Dr. Köhler-Rollefson became interested in camel, during a trip to Jordan. She harnessed that intrigue to fuel a Ph.D. on the domestication of the One-Humped Camel, her research leading her to Rajasthan, India, where she studied the unique and mutually harmonious relationship held between the Raika people and their camels.

The Raika are the only Hindu camel breeders in the world and they seem to have transferred some of the Hindu reverence for cows to the camel. They are the only camel people globally who believe that killing camels and using them for meat is a sin, they never subject their camels to slaughter. Their whole identity was based on being “camel care takers” and it was unimaginable for them to stop rearing camels, despite it being no longer profitable. They love camels, sometimes even more than their children.

The traditional knowledge of the Raika about camel management must be conserved and it is one among the central themes of the book ‘Camel Karma’ by Dr. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson. Raika people believe that camel was created by Lord Shiva at the behest of his consort Parvati. Parvati shaped a strange five-legged animal from clay and asked Shiva to blow life into it. Siva folded the animal s fifth leg over its back giving it a hump, and gave it life. He then felt that there should be someone to look after it, and so Shiva rolled off a bit of skin and dust from his arm and created the first Raika.

Historically, the Raika of Rajasthan have had a unique and enduring relationship with camels. Their entire existence revolves around looking after the needs of these animals which, in turn, provide them with sustenance, wealth and companionship. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, arrived Rajasthan in 1991. Since then she lived among the Raika people and this forms the base of ‘Camel Karma’. It is a story of the quest to follow a globally unique and humane animal culture and finding a place for camels in the rapidly changing India. It also reveals the unexpected layers of rural Rajasthani mores.

According to Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, there are many "existential problems" of the camel culture in Rajasthan. The existential problems of the Raika have arisen because the demand for camels as draught animals has largely petered out (although not completely, and there are still a lot of poor people who depend on camels for pulling carts). Because of the cultural restrictions on using camels for meat, the economic rationale for breeding camels is mostly gone. It would be different if a market for camel milk had been built up, but so far this has not happened.

Rajasthan has declared camel as its ‘State Animal’. But the declaration hadn’t gone along with investment in developing new kinds of camel products and in support for the camel breeders. Unfortunately, the legislation that is in the pipeline restricts the use of camels in many ways, which will make it impossible for the Raika to continue making a living from breeding camels. Essentially the camel will turn into a zoo animal and no longer be part of the farming system and of the landscape. 

Review Courtesy: http://www.camel-karma.com