Nomadic goatherds keep date with Kashmir meadows

Travelling hundreds of miles on foot with their families, household goods, tents and livestock, the tribal Bakarwals seem to be still living in the medieval era.

But negotiating sharp bends, bad weather and heavy traffic with hundreds of sheep and goat without a frown is something the Bakarwals have learnt through the generations.
Every goatherd, travelling between the Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu region and the valley, has a prized possession - a ferocious dog. The trained canine from a local specie maintains a 24-hour vigil on the flocks of sheep and goats while they graze in the meadows.

"Two such dogs can keep a bear or a tiger at bay. They will never allow a bear or a tiger to lift a goat or a sheep during grazing," said Bashir Ahmad War, 59, a retired senior veterinarian here.

"If there is a suspicious movement around the camp of the goatherds during the night, these dogs bark menacingly, alerting the master to impending danger," he said.
War, who served for 33 years as a veterinarian, has been to almost all the meadows of the Valley tendering the government flocks of wool-bearing exotic species of sheep.
"It is a tough existence. The Bakarwals live in highly inaccessible meadows where a minor ailment can become life threatening," he said.

"I have seen their women bear children while moving around with the flocks of sheep and goat. The movement of the flock is momentarily stopped. A screen of self-woven blankets is erected on the roadside while the eldest woman of the family acts as the midwife. That is it! The baby is delivered and after a while, the journey resumes," said the veterinarian.

It is amazing to note that despite their alarmingly fat-rich diet which includes pure milk, butter, cheese and ghee, the Bakarwals rarely complain of a heart ailment.

"They have a highly active lifestyle. Every member of the family travels a minimum of 800 km a year. This includes to and fro journeys from the Valley's meadows to their winter homes in the Jammu region.

"In addition to this vigorous foot journey, a Bakarwal has to do extra physical labour, fending for his family. He has to wash the livestock, feed them, maintain watch while the flock grazes, collect firewood in the forest for cooking food and do other daily chores," he said.

Tents, utensils, foodstuff and medicines for the livestock and the family are carried on horseback as the Bakarwal, his wife and children travel on foot during the journey.
Infants are carried by mothers, in special cradles tied to their backs.

"It is our life and we know to live it only this way. The thrill and joy of reaching the meadows where we camp for three months is beyond description. I have been doing this since the days of my grandfather and perhaps my children will continue to live like this. I have no regrets," said Siraj-ud-Din, 42, a Bakarwal.

He has come here from Rajouri district and will lay his grazing camp near the famous  Sonamarg hill station in north Kashmir a few days from now.

To ensure that the education of the Bakarwal children does not suffer during the months of migration, the Jammu and Kashmir government has set up migratory schools that move with the Bakarwal families from their winter homes to the Valley's meadows.
"The teachers for these migratory schools are drawn from the Bakarwal families and they move with the annual migration of the goatherds so that the education of the children does not suffer," said an education department official here.

"This practice ensures that the children of the goatherds get uninterrupted education up to the middle school level after which they can stay in the various hostels in the valley or the Jammu region to pursue higher studies," said the officer.