Pushkar Camel Fair: All in a Day's Work

---

Who knew we would have to work while we were on vacation!? We decided to spend our afternoon in the cattle section of the fair walking through the show strings and tie-outs. We watched them taking catttle to water and putting out feed for the buffalo. We were about to leave when we heard a real ruckus near the loading dock.

We turned around to see an adolescent camel refusing to load into the back of a truck despite the efforts of about five camel herders. We decided to watch the process even though it brought back difficult memories of loading Sarid to go to the vet hospital. We really wanted to see how the process was going to unfold as the camel was adamant he did not want to take a ride.

The tug of war between herders and camel went on for awhile with very little progress. Finally, the eldest of the herders tethered the camel's front leg and the other herders began the process of trying to get the camel to kush. We had guesses about what might happen next, but was not completely sure how it would turn out.

The eldest herder was struggling to get the camel to move once he was tethered and down on the ground. He got out two sticks to lift his hind end and was not having success. He stopped the process and seemed to ask for help. No one was stepping forward, so dad quickly ran over to the truck and grabbed a stick. Do I need to mention the shocked look on everyone's faces?

As the ordeal progressed, having an American in the mix meant a crowd quickly gathered. With an audience and a lot of squaking, the camel was finally loaded and when the truck gate closed, there was a cheer. The old herdsman and his staff put their hands in the air and signaled toward dad that he was the reason the camel was finally loaded. They patted dad on the back and even the spectators seemed to congratulate him. The only one that did not seem impressed by his skill was the soon-to-be-transported camel!

When the eldest herdsman shook dad's hand, we showed him a photo of Siwa and with gesturing explained that we own camels too. Maybe that was too much for them to believe!

---

Photos

The Struggle Between Man and Camel Begins
This is the scene we stumbled upon at the load docks in the cattle section of the fair. All of these men were trying to coax this camel onto a truck and the camel was determined to stay at the fair.

Dad to the Rescue
Dad is holding the bamboo sticks and using them to lift the camel's hind end into the trailer. Once his hind end was up, the men were able to scoot him. At one point his leg moved off trailer and they had to move it back without risking a break.

Mission Accomplished: Dad is the Hero
The minute the gate was closed, there was an air of relief. The spectators were even patting dad on the back! Herdsman across the world can relate to each other, even when there is a language barrier.

Special Thanks from the Herdsman
There was a woman sitting in the cab of the truck and as we walked past to leave, she thanked dad.

Comments

[Joy]

Great story!
Happy Thanksgiving to you "nomads". JOY

[Nancy]

hilarious
First of all is Roy's back still functioning? It is always fun to help natives out on trips as I think many don't think we do physical work but I must say physically loading a camel has to be the most unique incidentl I can think of. At least they didn't ask for money for the photos you took to document the event:-). Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy

[David Brock]

The man in the yellow shirt
And for generations to come, in the villages across Rajasthan, the story will be told of the yellow- shirted camel-man from a distant land who saved the Pushkar Fair!!!

[Ralph]

The Camel Hearder
I think your father learned his trade from hearding the camel hearders in Sarid. It was a joy to watch his trade. LOL