The Caravan of the Desert
“No sign of water, No sign of vegetation, No sign of human habitation. We are doomed in this Desert” shouted a migrant of the Caravan.
The Caravan mostly consisted of tribal communities who move about from place to place in different seasons in search of livelihood, food, water, and employment.
This is not an isolated Caravan rather it is one among the hundreds of caravans which move across the Thar desert annually. The caravan leaders are usually well adept in planning their routes. However today our leader seems to be completely dumbfounded in the middle of this vast desert.
We had traveled for twenty-one days and nights across the desert and seem to be reaching nowhere. The camels have become lax due to lack of food and the high burden which they have to pull in the oppressive climate. They started drooping down every few kilometers.
Maniklal, the leader of the caravan perhaps for the first time in his life seemed speechless in the middle of the desert terrain. He has grown from a child to an adult travelling amidst this desert. His parents used to be caravan leaders and Maniklal used to travel frequently in this very desert since his childhood.
His camel Toofan has also become tired but Maniklal has no fodder to provide her. It was a strange time for the caravan as they can neither travel back to their origin nor determine the direction to their destination.
There were men, woman, children and elderly in the caravan. Everybody began feeling dizzy and uneasiness due to lack of sufficient food and water. The stock of utilities which they had brought was almost about to become extinct.
The medicines for the elderly were also in short supply and they began experiencing the various symptoms of ailments coupled with fatigue. With no sign of immediate help, they started praying to the almighty for help.
I was among the few youths in the caravan and had no idea whether we would be able to see the land or not. We passed the time by playing poker not finding any better alternative to pursue. If we had wandered around the desert it is certain that we would get lost.
I noticed how people belonging to different communities, religion, cults, and cultures began finding solemn and hope amongst each other. They disregarded their cultural rigidities and helped each other out by sharing the limited amount of food, water, and medicines.
This kind of bonhomie was very distinct from what I had seen in my earlier caravans where people quarreled and clashed with each other for accessing resources. However, in this caravan everybody had an equal chance of survival, hence clashes became extraneous.
I realized that people feel greedy and insecure when their future outcome is certain and bright whereas they feel subjugated and timid when the future is bleak for all persons.
In the desert, humans are like puppets in the hands of mother nature. We cannot just get water by digging the soil or grow crops by planting seeds. Even the fashionable argument of “survival of the fittest” is a misnomer here.
For how long can a person survive without food, water, shelter, and ideal temperature.
During nighttime, the air became cold and swift thereby giving a sting to our bodies. This dialectically opposite weather conditions made survival even harsh in the desert. Some people showed signs of respiratory ailments while others coughed miserably.
Almost everybody prayed to mother nature to shower some pity and benevolence but mother nature couldn’t be pleased. She treats every landscape and terrain equally without any prejudice or mercy. Sometimes her constancy proves to be a deterrent for us humans.
The next day there was still no sign of help. The hot gusty winds began quite early in the morning. The wind was as dry as a coconut husk and made us thirsty in no time. Perspiration was inevitable and so was the misery.
By afternoon a distinct change in the weather occurred. Dark clouds hovered above the caravan. The clouds came all of a sudden which no one had foreseen. Soon thunders and lightning became our companions in the middle of the desert.
Seeing this sight everyone became timid and braced themselves to another eventuality of mother nature. There were prayers and discussions amidst this changing weather.
Amidst all the chaos, a wise man came up with a brilliant idea which was somewhere not thought by other migrants. “If we place all our water carrying vessels on the desert then they will get replenished by the rain.”
Immediately every able bodies person started gathering their vessels and placed them in the sand.
“The idea is almost like a divine gift,” said an elderly woman and blessed the man.
Soon torrential rain began and the weather took a course for the worst. High-speed winds threatened to uproot and disrobe us of our scarce belongings. It was a struggle against the force of nature to safeguard our resources.
We sat down at the corners of the tents and placed heavy objects on it. To a certain extent, it prevented the uprooting of our valuables. Though certain scarves and light garments got freedom from the bondage of our caravan and flew away with the gusts of wind into the mighty desert.
The thunderstorm was a terrifying experience since it rained so heavily that it caused a flash flood. Luckily our caravan was at the peak of a sand dune and thus was saved from the floods. We saw how heaps of sand mixed with the rapid gush of water flowed away like a golden flood.
Luckily the thunderstorm lasted for about a quarter of an hour. We ran towards the vessels which were replenished with pristine rainwater and gave a collective Hurrah!
Everyone in the caravan felt a sigh of relief as at least some benefits were obtained or rather blessed upon by mother nature. People drank water to their heart’s content and some of the fatigued people recovered to a certain extent.
The cool mistral wind was still blowing and everyone gathered outside their tents to enjoy the relief.
With the availability of water, sufficient amount of food was cooked and everyone had a fairly adequate meal after many days.
The one thing that was common at this moment was the affinity towards the fellow migrants.
Surviving the harsh conditions has reinforced the faith in humanity among us migrants and we started looking at the big picture of life.
It was a strange thing that the cohesion which humans couldn’t develop through their materialistic advancements and scientific progress was done successfully by mother nature.
The night was as usual icy-cold perhaps a bit exaggerated because of the rainfall earlier in the day. There was bonhomie in the camp and the dull spirits were reinvigorated to a certain extent.
Next day we heaved a sigh of relief as we encountered another caravan traveling across the desert. Maniklal immediately ran towards that caravan and explained our situation to them.
The caravan obliged us to join them. Immediately we packed all our scattered belongings and joined them. The other caravan was kind enough to tend to the sick and ill migrants of our caravan. They provided medicines, herbal juices and rehydration solutions which improve the health of people.
We thus began to travel together and shared our resources and after a ten days reached our destination.
The journey was an eye-opener for me and would definitely be everlasting for most of the migrants in our caravan. After this journey, I began viewing the society and its people with a different outlook.
I became more generous and felt joy in providing whatever small help I could provide to the needy.
