Most bottom-of-the-pyramid entrepreneurs have to do multiple businesses to keep home hearths burning. Those who give tourists a ride on their camels in the desert of Rajastan are no exception
For a tourist visiting Bikaner, Raisar is the nearest point where they can get an authentic feel of the desert.
A sand dune, just before you reach the village is what most tourists on a short trip will head towards. And giving these tourists a feel of the desert are the villagers of Raisar. They meet you at the National Highway and take groups of tourists on a safari to the dune and to nearby villages. A typical group comprises of two or more camels (each camel seating two) and a camel drawn cart to carry luggage as well as tourist, when he tires of the uneven and bouncy ride atop the animal.
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| An adult camel eats upto 40 kg of fooder in a day, while a baby can consume about 15 kg. Fodder costs around Rs 1,000 per quintal |
Your safari could be a quick couple of hours' walk to the nearest point on the dune and back all the way to a full day walkabout in the desert. Rental for the camel team depends on the route you take and the distace traversed. Tourist season in the desert is winter. When the rest of north India is freezing, the desert becomes tolerable and tourists flock to the region. The season extends anywhere from four to five months till the beginning of March. On a good day, a team of two camels, with one of them drawing a cart, stand to make anywhere from thousand to two thousand rupees, not counting tips. And like everything else connected to the tourism business, tips can be substantial, being even more than the fee itself, especially if the tourists are foreigners.
According to the locals, business these couple of years has been low, thanks to lower numbers of foreign tourists. They put this down to the combined effects of the global slowdown and the rise in global terrorism.
Like with most entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid, camel owners are forced to seek multiple income sources during the course of the year to keep home hearths burning. After the tourist season comes the summer, when there is nothing much to do beyond resting. This is the period when the camel drives no income, but continues to cost in terms of fodder, medicines and care. Camel fodder costs around a thousand rupees a quintal and lasts about a week. After summer, some of the camels are used in the fields for ploughing and related work.Those who do not have enough land to farm migrate to nearby cities in search of work as daily wage labourers.
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