Imagine that it is 1950 and you are a 60-year-old Raika herder living in post-Independence India. You are telling your grand-daughter about the changes which have taken place in your lifestyle after Independence. What would you say?

Back in the days before Independence, our herding community roamed freely across vast stretches of land near the Indus river plains. After 1947, we could no longer move into Sindh and graze our camels on the banks of the Indus, as we had done earlier. The new political boundaries between India and Pakistan stopped our movement. So we had to find new places to go. Our grazing lands were redistributed, and some were even converted into settled agricultural plots. We had to adapt, finding new pastures for our beloved camels and sheep. We had to graze our camels in the agricultural fields after the harvesting was done.