Ritayan Mukherjee

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Jat Ayub Ameen, like others in his
community, says he is a satisfied person. “We don’t drink and are not greedy
for other people’s property; we listen to our own voice, we walk to our own
rhythm.”
 
 I first met Jat Ayub and other maldharis on a dusty road outside
 
 
 Bhuj
around two years ago. The
 
 maldharis  are nomadic pastoralists of Kachchh
– in Gujarati, ‘mal’  refers to the animals (the word literally means 'material') and ‘dhari’  are the people who keep these animals.
Their herds include camels, sheep, goats, buffaloes and cows.
 
 Many of the
 
 maldhari
 
 communities migrate in March-April,
just before the onset of summer, in search of green pastures. They return to
their villages by July-August, when the monsoon starts.  Their migration schedules vary according to the animals they keep. But they all live because they walk.
 
 The major
 
 maadhari
 
 communities of Kutch are the Jats, the Rabaris and the Sammas. They can be
Hindu (Rabaris) or Muslim (Jats and Samas), but all the communities share amiable
ties and similar philosophies of nomadic life.
 
 For me, photographing the distinctive
 
 maldhari
 
 has been a challenge.
Unlike high altitude pastoralists who have simple community structures, in Kachchh
these structures are complex and take time to figure out — the Jats, for example,
include four communities – Fakirani
Jats, Hajiyani Jats, Daneta Jats, and
Garasiya Jats. A few of
them settled a long time ago and keep cows and buffaloes. Only the Fakirani keep camels, are
nomadic, and move throughout the year, usually within their
 
 taluka.
 
 
 “Those who follow the path of Sant Savla Pir are known as Fakirani Jats,”
says Aga Khan Savlani, an elderly spiritual teacher and highly respected Fakirani
Jat. Savlani told me that in 1600 AD, Savla Pir gifted a camel to one Devidas
Rabari – and this is how the Rabaris started keeping
 
 
 Kharai camels, who they value till today
 
 .
 
 
 The Fakirani Jats are conservative
and dislike cameras. Though they welcome visitors with tea made of camel milk,
they resolutely refuse to be photographed at length. Most of the families I
interacted with rejected my idea of documenting their daily life.
 
 Then I met Jat
 
 
 Ayub Ameen, a Fakirani Jat from Bhachau
 
 taluka
 
 of Kachchh, a simple and humble man. He moves with his family, including his
wife Khatoon and his sister Haseena, and a herd of camels. In early 2016, he
let me into his life with my camera.
 
 Though the Jat communities here
primarily speak Kutchi, Ameen, around 55, speaks fluent Hindi, which he says he
learnt by listening to the radio. Unlike many Fakirani Jats, Ameen and his
family don’t live in
 
 pakkhas
 
 (temporary houses made
of reed grass, jute, rope and wood). They sleep in the open, under the skies.
 
 Though Fakirani Jats keep two breeds
of camels, the Kharai and
Kachchhi, Ayub only
owns Kharai camels. And since mangrove plants are a critical part of the diet of these animals, he has to constantly look for grazing grounds. However, due to deforestation and
industrialisation, especially along the coastal belt, mangroves have depleted
in Abdasa, Lakhpat and Mundra,
though in 1982 the forest department had declared these coastal areas a
protected zone. Ayub also speaks of the spiralling growth of a plant called gando baavar (prosopis
juliflora
 
 
 ),
 
 which does not
allow grasses and other plants that are best suited for the animals, to grow.
 Despite these problems, Ayub Ameen,
like many of his community, says he is happy: “At the end of the day, we get
 
 roti
 
 and camel’s milk. We have that and go to sleep.”

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Sincere thanks to everyone at Sahajeevan, a Bhuj-based trust and non-governmental organisation that works with maldhari, and to Hardika Dayalani, my creative collaborator and friend,  who introduced me to the nomadic culture of Kachchh.

The endless search for grazing grounds

চৰণীয়া পথাৰ সন্ধানৰ অন্তহীন যাত্ৰা

তৃণভূমির সন্ধানে অনন্ত যাত্রা

மேய்ச்சல் நிலத்துக்கான முடிவில்லா தேடல்

ગૌચર જમીનની અંતહીન શોધમાં

चराऊ कुरणांचा अंतहीन शोध

ଗୋଚର ଭୂଇଁର ଅନ୍ତହୀନ ଅନ୍ୱେଷଣ

चरागाहों की अंतहीन खोज

چراگاہوں کی لامتناہی تلاش

Kachchh

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The endless search for grazing grounds

Jat Ayub Ameen, a Fakirani Jat, is distinctive even among the remarkable 'maldhari' or nomadic pastoralists – who are worried about the growing scarcities in Kachchh district of Gujarat. A PARI photo story

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