Riding on a camel for a livelihood in Melvisharam

Ali and his wife take schoolchildren on joy rides after school hours and earn around ₹600 -800 a day

RANIPET

On a narrow lane lined with asbestos-roofed houses on both sides, A. Mohammed Ali, a tall skinny man, was busy with his family at their house front in Melvisharam near Arcot. They were readying their pet for the day’s work — joy rides for school kids in the neighbourhood. Their pet and the workmachine is a camel.   Every morning, the family, mainly the aged couple, walk with their five-year-old camel on the rugged terrain covering areas like Melvisharam, Keelvisharam, Arcot, Walajah, Bagayam, Thorapadi and Vellore Old Town to earn a livelihood by providing joy rides for children, mostly students after school hours, for a nominal charge of ₹20 per child. “As I am old, I can’t do hard labour like masonry or loader. The joy rides have provided a livelihood for my family for a decade now,” says 68-year-old Ali, a father of seven. Along with his wife Nurjahan, Ali spends most of his day time feeding the animal with foliage, dry grasses, thorny plants, sward shrubs, herbs and forbs found in the wild on the outskirts of Arcot, Vellore and Walajah. The animal needs, on an average, 50 kg of feed every day. He does it dutifully throughout the day until 4 p.m when the school bell rings. He waits at the entrance of the schools in the neighbourhood for his riders, all schoolchildren. With their parents walking along with Ali, children enjoy their joy ride on the camel for a distance of around 500 metres from the campus. The joy rides provide an income of ₹600 - ₹800 for the aged couple every day. On Saturdays, the income doubles.   During the pandemic, the couple managed to feed their animal with the free feed for livestock like chana churi, guar meal and maize cattle feed that was provided by the State government due to closure of schools. They managed to run their family with free ration provided by the PDS outlet in the neighbourhood. Reopening of schools have made the couple resume their long trek with the camel to earn their livelihood. Along with her calf, the seven-foot-tall camel not only gives them an income but also provides all they need. She provides on an average two litres of milk for consumption every day. Her wool is sold for its durability to nearby leather tanneries to make warm clothes, blankets and tents. She carries the baggage for them during their travel to towns such as Ambur, Arcot, Walajah, Arani, Ranipet and Polur. In each of these towns, they stay at least a week going from one school to another every day.   A native of Cheyyar taluk in Tiruvannamalai, Ali, the eldest among five siblings, moved to Vellore’s Old Town half a century ago with his parents for livelihood. After doing odd jobs for many years, he bought a few horses to run carts during marriage functions. Later, he brought a camel from Pushkar in Rajasthan a decade ago. After the camel died during the pandemic, he brought a female camel from the desert-State six months ago. As his horses are taken care of by his children, the camel remains the sole breadwinner for him and his family.