Camel Milk Panacea for All Diseases;
24/7 spent in earning livelihood, sleep wherever dusk falls;
Such a passionate and workaholic people are rare now a day who in spite of difficulties and homelessness in Islamabad wander on different streets and roads to earn an honest living just by selling their camels’ milk which is considered panacea for nearly all the diseases.
Javed Baloch who has come to Islamabad with his camels along with her poor parents and his brother with the hope to earn money by selling the milk of camel in order to take part in the celebration of Eid.
He says, “It took us 2 months to come to Rawalpindi from Sheikhupura on foot only to market our product. And after having spent one month in Rawalpindi we have come to Islamabad along with our camels. We have four camels that are the sole source of income for us”.
“One camel gives us 5kg milk in the morning and the same in the evening which we sell for Rs 60 to 80 per kg with which we fairly run a business of our home so that we could also buy things for celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. Everybody feels to buy something to celebrate the Eid even if it should be something minute,” He added.
He said, “We only come to Islamabad and Rawalpindi in this month of Ramazan with an intention of getting profit. We normally sell the milk at Rs 60 per kg but at times some kind-hearted and generous person comes to us for buying the milk and overpays us for the milk. The camels’ milk is considered panacea for all the illnesses and it has lots of benefit as well,” He explained.
He said that they all stay and sleep wherever night comes over them in the federal capital. But they complain that the CDA and the police are teasing them. He explained, “we sleep on the roadside, near markets and sometime in open areas but the CDA workers awake us to leave the place immediately and they tell us that we have ordered not to leave the vendors or stranger in Islamabad in the night time near the roadside”.
“We graze our camels on the grass and on the leaves of the trees. During night big mosquitoes bite us which makes us uncomfortable even to spend the night and on the other hand we also have to worry about our camels as well. We spend our night by awaking because lest someone should take our camels away”, he reminded.
He says that the family will get back home (Sheikhupura) after Eid-ul-Fitr because they have come here for the sake of earning some amount of money so that they could run easily the business of their house.