Dr. Mohinder Kumar
Samad Rukhten is located in Nyoma block of Changthang “cold desert” in Leh district. The village is witness to mass migration of “Rabo” tribal nomads. Thirty years ago, even as adoption of reforms process for economic “restructuring” by India under rubric of globalization was just five-six years away, Rabo nomads could anticipate the ruthlessness of change. They were forced to change even before economic reforms could be introduced in India in 1990.

                                                  Village Weekly

All of a sudden some centuries old traditional “nomads” of Samad Rukhten transformed into modern “migrants” as they wandered through Taglang-la pass (second highest mountain pass of the world) to reach Leh city by walking and on horse-back up to 200 km. In 1985, village had 90 tribal tent-dwelling nomad households, of which 50 migrated to Leh. Today this village is left with 40 Rabo nomad households. They have constructed kutcha houses to replace Rabo Pashmina tents. Their kutcha house has become a symbol of life of stay and settlement amidst antithetical currents of displacement and migration. No nomad by choice wants to be a migrant even as terms “nomadic” and “migrant” are to be understood as things apart, symbolizing different modes of life. One is traditional, the other stands “nowhere”.
Youth in 10 of these Rabo nomad households have recently set up tea shop-cum-restaurant at Dibling on Leh-Manali highway, two km from Samad Rukhten. Nomad villagers of Samad Rukhten, staying in tea tent-shops during day for small business, narrated their account of nomadic life lived by them 30-40 years ago, for outsiders to have an idea.
Tent was made of Yak wool. They had devised a strict rule: Whatever be the size of family, each household would live in one tent, not two tents (even if family size was relatively bigger). The main reason was economic. They could not afford two tents because they did not have surplus Yak wool to have spare tent. Second reason was that it promoted spirit of affinity, cooperation and sense of association by living under one roof. This practice was carried over from the past when tents were made of costly pashmina wool. Being costly, each household could afford only one pashmina tent. Over a period of time, this customary habit of having one pashmina wool tent became a norm and continued till they started living in Yak wool tent.
Each Rabo nomad household in village Samad used to rear 10-15 Yaks. It was important to sell Yak wool in the market for family subsistence. Yak milk was consumed by family members. It is worthwhile to know that in Europe, Yak milk chocolates are a hot commodity even as processing and value-addition in Yak milk is quite popular as economic profession. However, in Laddakh there are as yet no takers for Yak milk produced by Rabo nomadic tribe. The main reason is lack of publicity and awareness.
Samad Rabo nomadic people wore cotton choga (overcoat) –either handmade or by purchasing from market, a practice that started 30 years ago with enhanced exposure to the Leh market. Their other pieces of attire were: woolen coat, sweaters, woolen/leather cap and homemade shoes made of Yak leather, with inner layer being of Yak leather and outer layer being of goat leather, since it is softer. They wore hand-knit woolen “choga” (overcoat) or covered their body with hand-stitched hide of sheep during winter. Nomads rarely took bath in their life time.
People of this Rabo nomad tribe are Buddhists. The question of human survival in Rabo nomad tribe cannot be resolved without its attendant paradoxes, dilemmas, contradictions and trade-offs. Physical survival depended on food. Their food included Yak meat. Respondent ‘nomad-cum-restaurant owners’ became emotional as they expressed that tears rolled down their eyes once they slaughter Yak, which for some years used to be an organic part of family. They did it for compulsion of survival. Word “compulsion” signified necessity of survival. “It hurts to slaughter Pashmina goat or Yak; we often weep and cry out of pain”. There were many anecdotes on interplay of instinct for survival and feeling of violence. A villager (Lamsoo, block Chiktan) in Kargil district recounted a similar experience when goat was slaughtered at home for food in winter.
Renowned Italian political theorist Antonio Gramsci, globally known as “the most original Marxist scholar” of 20th century held that economics (business) and emotions were always intertwined and inseparable in human history. In that sense, the humans’ instinct for economic survival may not be mechanically separated from emotions of physical violence and killing of life forms, for instance, by slaughter. In 2014, a Bengali film Khashi Katha (Story of Goat) was produced by Judhajit Sarkar. The film is about a Muslim butcher, who has a conversation with the goat he is about to butcher. The goat narrates an unusual story in order to stall his death. This film may answer the emotional call of slaughtering goat or Yak. In the film “Khashi” or the goat is the human conscience which mirrors our self. Similarly, Fyodor Dostovsky wrote in his Crime and Punishment that in thinking of killing a person, one first kills oneself. Other’s killing happens later; first one’s own annihilation (of conscience/ self) confronts man.
Therefore, it’s not without reason or not just due to pure emotion that Buddhism barred consumption of meat. But it did not bar consuming meat purchased from butcher’s shop since the latter had already presumably killed his conscience, self and human essence. But in the film Khashi Katha, goat awakens the conscience and human essence of butcher with an unusual story, which at least stalled his slaughter. The stories and anecdotes confirms dialectical (conflict ridden, contradictory) co-existence of economics with emotions; survival with violence in all class-divided societies and social formations –whether nomadic tribal community or modern capitalist society. Dualism and co-existence of dualistic conflicting realities persisted always in a conflict-ridden society where there are innumerable binaries, divisions and schisms.
In the same vein, Rabo tribals-cum-shop-owners expressed their plight of the reality of paradox-ridden survival. They informed that wild dogs roaming in vast sea of sand recently killed four horses owned by nomad households. Such instances and losses were quite common.
In old times, Rabo nomads of village Samad got medical treatment with herbs (locally called jari-booti) even as “Amchi” (local doctor) would prepare medicines. This ancient nomadic system of medicine was still followed to some extent, particularly by elderly members of nomad family.
Their normal ailments now-a-days are headache, stomach-pain, fever, mental stress, irritation in behavior, etc.  Currency note or coins were first seen 50 years ago (mid-1960s) when they adopted practice of selling goats and sheep. Selling ruminants started somewhere during 1960 and 1965 in this village.
They settled at this place and moved around to shift in the adjoining areas for nomadic life style since time immemorial and this place was two km from Leh-Manali highway. Tourists and travelers would be seen plying on this road since past 100 years. That was the only link of nomads with the outer world. Before that they were cut-off from outer world. Therefore, their exposure to money system based on currency or bank notes in/around 1960 or 1965 appeared reasonably plausible. Before 1960, their economy was based on “credit” (they call it udhaar); it was two-way exchange based on barter. A Pashmina goat or Yak lent today on credit basis would be returned after a month or so with same good/commodity: goat in exchange for goat and Yak for Yak. There was no apathy to borrow things on credit basis. Credit was an essential part of their day-to-day activities. Items of credit involved eatables, grains (rice, aata), items of wears, sauce-crushing (paste-making) stone, sheep, goat, yak, wool, leather, hide, etc. These were bartered.
Rabo nomads did not rule out existence of economic class differentiation among their tribe 50-60 years ago. Economic hierarchies prevailed. There were nomad households which owned 200 yaks, 100 sheep, 100 pashmina goats and even horses. At the same time some nomad households had owned virtually nothing or negligible assets/livestock. They saw role of “destiny” in economic differentiation.
Wild dogs were also held as part of destiny which killed small ruminants and livestock. But dogs would never bite humans/ nomads. Social relations of nomadic community in Samad village were peaceful. They would often engage in arguments and debate, but never quarreled or fought or engaged in physical brawl or duel to attack any person physically.
Even as any dispute needed resolution, there were ‘Numberdar’ of village for the same who were regarded as very intelligent persons. ‘Numberdar’ would be appointed by common agreement and usually he would be elderly and respectable person, since he was supposed to offer judgment and give decision. However, now-a-days nomadic youth behavior has changed. Members of community in Samad village would hear incidences of physical brawl. Instances of provocation and getting irritated or over-sensitive responses had come to their notice.
This was thought as abnormal and unusual among their tribe to be aggressive. But they were unable to make out what caused such behavior. Even slightest of provocations were making them reactive due to over-sensitive nature having gripped their minds. This change could be due to their increasing exposure to the outer world of modernity.

Nomads of Samad Rukhten shared their customs of religious functions, prayers and celebrations, which are reported as under: In winter season “Chonga Dirim” worship was performed on new-year ‘Losar’. Four persons from the village on rotation basis volunteered together to arrange special food for five days for entire village. This would cost around Rs.4000. Lamas were invited and worshiped. Entire Samad turned into celebration and village-fair. Another type of worship “Tupishishur” was conducted for 25 days and it was similar to “Chonga Dirim” but food was arranged for five days. In summer season, for 15-25 days, Gechas (like Pandits in Hinduism and Granthis in Sikhism) would recite shlokas from what nomads called “long books” throughout day and night incessantly. Lamas also read from “long books”. Every person was offered special food to mark the auspicious occasion of worship. Gecha would be offered money @Rs.500 to 600 per day for his service.  Third type of worship was called “Manay”, which continued for 30 days during which 300-400 people would make congregation and do concentration of minds with rosary beads in hand. Lamas also performed pooja. Four Lamas would be invited in the village. Each Rabo village near Samad performed worships similarly but it was done separately in their respective villages so that it was like holy healthy theological monopolistic competition. No village took part in prayers and worships of the other village. Rimpoche (Head Lama) would be invited by all from Korzok. Those nomads who had migrated to Leh in 1985 would return each year in summer season for few days to their original abode at Samad Rukhten to participate in village worships, which is held in Thugje gompa (temple). Some erstwhile nomads of Samad Rukhten village would return in winter season also for worship. It’s like old place calling them to return to their roots even for a few days to meet the past.

The great Rabo nomadic mass migration from Samad Rukhten that began in 1985 continued for five years, up to 1990 until global economic reforms arrived on the threshold of Indian economy. Each year 10 nomad families migrated. Main reason for migration was “excessive” snowfall (up to 8-10 feet) and cold. Is it pointing towards early wave of climate change? Greater parts of sheep and Pashmina goat wealth had perished in the cold. These climatic trends created situation of semi-starvation in the early 1980s, leading to mass migration of nomads on horses since almost nothing was left except tent. Small ruminants were getting perished without much replenishment of these livestock.

Upon migration they arrived at Leh and later moved to Choglamsar (eight km) since there was nothing in Leh that could support their life with livelihoods. At Choglamsar erstwhile nomads became Wage-Wanders and here they would be doing wage-labor, since forced to live without private ownership of means of production. Earlier at Samad, they owned valuable sheep, goats and Yaks. Now they just owned their bodily labor-power, which they sold for wages in the emerging local labor market and thus somehow survived.

Samad Rukhten is part of the great “cold desert” of Changthang region including Nyoma and Ligte. This area is also characterized by good cultivation of crops like wheat, sabzi, shalgam, etc. Village Samad Rukhten was, however, no match with Changthang proper in terms of wheat and sabzi cultivation. Samad had less of wheat and more of grass; even grass also got diminished due to cold weather. Ruthless over-dependence on mobile ration store could no longer hold Rabo nomads to the roots of Samad Rukhten; nomads resorted to mass migration to become wage-laborers, wage-wanders and wage-vagabonds. They were still wage-laborers. For hundreds of years, they led nomadic way of life; now they were destined to live life of wage-laborers for same number of years unless they made effort to smash this shackle of human bondage of working in exchange for money in the garb of “free market” laborers without any force of feudal compulsion but personal compulsion thrust upon them from exotic and alien circumstances.

(Author works for NABARD. Views expressed are personal)
Feedback:mohinder1966@gmail.com

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