Best friends with buffaloes: Inside India's Van Gujjar tribe
- Published
Ten-year-old Rukshana combs the hair of her calf. 'Without our buffaloes, we are nothing,' says a member of the tribe
The Van Gujjars are among hundreds of nomadic tribes scattered all over India.
Originally from Jammu and Kashmir state, they have spread out across the Himalayas in search of rich forests and meadows for their water buffaloes. Their lives are mainly spent caring for their animals.
Every year, as the snow begins melting in the mountains, this nomadic tribe begins walking up in search of newer pastures.
Photographer Mansi Thapliyal accompanied this tribe on their 18-day, 200km (124 miles) journey state to the upper Himalayas in Uttarakhand state. Here's a selection of her work:
The tribespeople walk through different landscapes crossing towns, villages and dense forests
Noor says she feels safer travelling with her people in the forests than moving through cities
The nomadic tribe earns their living by selling milk and other dairy products
The tribe believes that the birth of a female buffalo brings good fortune, and they make a cut in the ear of the animal to celebrate its birth
Each family member has a well-defined role with the animals: the adults walk with big buffaloes and horses and children follow with the calves. The animals have names as well. Asma with her horse, Kesar.
'We would all sleep in the open', recounts Thapliyal. 'I could feel the earth below me, and the sky above my head'.
After walking for 18 days, they reach their mountain home. Each family gets a permit from the forest authorities to live in a particular forest for six months.
'Once we reach the meadows, it's like heaven,' says Salma, 15. 'We leave our cattle to graze. Then we rest, sing, play and relax for the season'