For Sindh’s nomads, home is where the harvest season is

Many people have started to pack up and leave Khairpur as the last dates there have been picked.

SUKKUR: For Bux Ali alias Bakhshoo, his wife and his five children, life turns with the wheels of the donkey cart which takes them from one city to another in search of a livelihood.

Every year, thousands of nomads like Bakshoo travel with their families from different areas of Sindh, such as Shikarpur, Kashmore and Jacobabad, to Khairpur during the date harvesting season. Some of them pool money to rent trucks and pickups to move around while others use their donkey carts.

After working in date orchards for more than two months, these nomadic labourers have started to leave Khairpur for other places in search of food. Only a few families remain and they too are preparing to leave.

“My wife and children weave baskets and mats while I work in date palm orchards,” Bakhshoo told The Express Tribune. “We came to Khairpur in the last week of June and now that the date harvesting season is over, we are moving to Naushahro Feroze to work in guava orchards,” he said. He earned between Rs200 and Rs300 a day while his wife and children made Rs200 each day by selling baskets.

The lion’s share of the family’s earnings was spent on food. “My wife is very sensible and has managed to saved Rs3,200,” he hastened to add.  For Bakshoo, being a nomad requires mastery over a range of skills. “I can do anything from climbing date trees to preparing wooden crates in which mangoes and other fruits are packed.” Besides working as labourers in the date orchards, the nomads also rear goats and sheep, which they sell.

As Bakhsoo sat on the ground picking out edible dates from those that had rotted, his wife looked on a few feet away from him. “I love this life - except for one or two times that my children fell sick and I couldn’t find a doctor,” she said. “But we don’t earn enough to make ends meet. My ten-year-old son, Qasim, and my eight-year-old daughter are already lending us a hand.”

But Bakhshoo said that he has had it with this life. “When we don’t have anything to eat, we just survive on dates and water,” he said. “My life is like a rolling stone and I don’t like it. I want a home where we can live in peace. But since our forefathers were nomads, we feel compelled to spin with the wheels of our donkey carts to survive.” His family will first travel to Naushahro Feroze and then to move to Larkana before heading out to Sakrand.

Talking about the law and order situation in the camps, Bakhshoo said, “We live in a group. Therefore, we don’t feel any insecurity. Sometimes thefts take place, but we generally feel safe.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2012.