The Camel Ride

Years ago during my childhood, I saw the movie, “Sonar Kella“ made by Satyajit Ray. It still remains one of my favourite movies. Other than it being an adventure/thriller movie, what really remained with me were the forts of Rajasthan with the cherry on the cake, The Jaisalmer Fort. The camel ride sequence of Lalmohan Ganguly was also something very enjoyable. Over the years, I always had that interest in visiting Rajasthan and so when the plan finally crystallized in 2013, I ensured that we have an extended stay at Jaisalmer.

Our Rajasthan trip started on 21st December and ended on 3rd January. Quite a longish trip but it still was like a whirlwind tour as we covered all the major forts of Rajasthan. 

This post of course is my experience of riding a camel in the Thar Desert.

After visiting the Jaisalmer Fort, our guide asked if we would be interested in a desert safari. We had small kids with us so we were not interested in staying overnight in the desert camp because it gets really cold at night. He suggested we take the camel ride and we thought it was not a bad idea for the evening.

Right after lunch we got ready and left for the desert camp which was about 40 minutes’ drive from where we stayed.

Asif’s and my family had traveled together to Rajasthan. So including the kids, it was 7 of us. We decided to rent 3 camels. In one Sushma and Sumbul sat. Another was occupied by Asif and his 2 daughters, Iqra and Daneah. The third one was for me and my son, Neel. 

Camels have this unique way of standing up. It will first get up from the rear using its two back legs and then it will raise its front legs. Writing this is quite simple but experiencing it is not so simple. Definitely it was not simple for me. 

We wanted the ladies to start first and as the camel rose up what we could hear were only shrieks of our dear ladies because as the camel raised its back legs both the ladies’ bodyweight went forward and this meant it was having difficulty to raise its front legs. Looking at that scene, I started wondering if it was a good decision to come for the ride in the first place. 

Asif was the expert as he guided the ladies to lean according to the Camel’s movement. My heart was pounding. Neel was sitting in front of me and as my camel raised its back legs, the gravitational force took me forward and I was unable to lean backward. There were now two problems in hand:

1. I was hurting Neel with my full weight over him.

2. The Camel was not getting enough strength to raise its front legs as my weight was a deterrence.

At that moment I was feeling like anytime I will lose control and fall off, anyways there were helpers around who came and helped the camel to stand up.

There is a saying that morning shows the day. Our ladies were now comfortable but my confidence in Camel ride laid in tatters. I asked the helper about how long it will take us to go to the destination. He said it will be about 30 minutes. He also added motivating words like it’s very enjoyable and asked me not to panic. Well, I said, you come and sit in front of the computer and write a program and I will also tell you don’t panic. It’s very simple.

Anyways, we started our ride through the desert and I felt that riding won’t be an issue. How wrong was I! As soon as the camel moved up the sand dunes, I was feeling completely out of control. The feeling was worse than riding through the pothole-filled roads. Sometimes, I am falling backward, sometimes, I am leaning in front. I was just hoping for the destination to come as soon as possible.

As a few minutes passed, I got used to the ride and the thought of watching the sunset from the Thar desert preoccupied my mind.

Neel was enjoying the ride to the fullest. As we reached our destination where we would be spending time till the sunset –  right in the middle of the desert, I felt like mission accomplished. But wait, I needed to get down from the camel’s back. Now the camels while sitting down follow the reverse process of how they get up. Now they will first fold their front legs and as it folded its front legs, I felt like I will be thrown into the desert. Somehow I kept holding the saddle and as it folded its rear legs, I heaved a sigh of relief.

Getting down I stretched for a while to get myself steady. I almost made up my mind to walk back during the return journey which was quite a childish thought though.

Anyways, I found a tea seller in the middle of the desert so I decided to have some tea to get back to my saneness.

The kids had a great time in the sand while Asif and Neel did some Camel Racing too. I was really surprised to see my very daring 9-year-old son and Asif kept on egging me – giving Neel’s experience.

The sand dunes were a perfect setting for the kids to play on as we waited for the sun to set. Sushma & Sumbul also joined the fun.

It was an exhilarating experience to watch the sunset from the middle of the desert. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about the camel ride though.

In the movie “Sonar Kella”, Lalmohan Ganguly had to get on a camel only once. Don’t know how he would have reacted to another camel ride but I didn’t want to ride it again. But, there was no option after all. This time the experience was slightly better because I made sure I leaned back right after getting up so that the force of the rear legs as the camel got up didn’t push me front and hence the tough part was done relatively smoothly. The ride became difficult though because now the camel was walking downwards in the sand dunes and this meant I was forced to lean forward. Sometimes it felt like I will fall over. 

Thankfully nothing untoward happened and we reached back to the camp and I felt like I won a war.

Neel in the meanwhile was feeling disappointed that the camel ride was over. How diametrically opposite reactions in the same bloodline, I wondered.

All in all, it was an experience worth remembering. I doubt I will get on a camel again anytime soon but then no one knows what lies in the future. 

Looking back I think the shriek of the ladies when the first camel got up followed with me not leaning backward when my camel got up meant I had a bad start and the fear psychosis reared its head. Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai and I hope if and when I am forced to ride a camel again, I will do better.

So did you ride a camel? What has been your experience?

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