Heda Hoda
The Blind Camel | Das blinde Kamel
Dhrang is the name of a sleepy little village in the extreme north-west of Kutch on the border to Pakistan. This is where Sonu’s family live. Sonu’s father owns a number of camels which are used to transport goods about in this rugged, inhospitable region. Sonu looks up to his father, who is said to have been rather wild as a boy. When his father falls ill one day, he asks Sonu to lead the camels out to graze. Delighted at his father’s request, Sonu sets out, his sister Lakhami in tow. The children stop to rest at midday and the camels begin to stray further and further away. Lakhami tells Sonu that she’s too tired to continue and so her brother leaves her with a woman who promises to take her back to their village.
But where are the camels now? They can’t have wandered over the border, can they? Unbeknown to Sonu, he himself is already standing on Pakistani soil. A Pakistani herder, Razaq, approaches Sonu and tells him that he thinks the camels have joined his own herd. He leads the boy back to the border and promises to drive his camels back as well. When Sonu gets home, his father is furious. But Sonu knows just what to do the save the situation. Mobilising all of his friends in the village, he manages to make the impossible possible. It isn’t easy to cross the border between Pakistan and India without papers – even if you’re a camel.
But where are the camels now? They can’t have wandered over the border, can they? Unbeknown to Sonu, he himself is already standing on Pakistani soil. A Pakistani herder, Razaq, approaches Sonu and tells him that he thinks the camels have joined his own herd. He leads the boy back to the border and promises to drive his camels back as well. When Sonu gets home, his father is furious. But Sonu knows just what to do the save the situation. Mobilising all of his friends in the village, he manages to make the impossible possible. It isn’t easy to cross the border between Pakistan and India without papers – even if you’re a camel.
