In my line of work, I hear stories all the time. Recently, when I was in Sadri, a Rajasthani village, I heard a tale I’ve recounted many times about a Raika healer’s incredible diagnostic skills. It is, however, so extraordinary that I don’t know whether to believe it or not.
But before I begin the story, let me give you some background information on the Raika. They are nomadic animal herders from Rajasthan and Gujarat. Living as they do in the desert, they probably come in contact with more animals than humans (and what’s wrong with that, you might say, but that’s another story). This proximity has taught the Raika to read their animals with ease and accuracy. It is said that they can deduce the animal’s state of health, well being and parentage by just looking at its footprints. “The Raika can often tell the gender, age, whether it’s pregnant or not and many more details simply from its footprints,” said our host Hanwant Singh of Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS), who has worked closely with the community for over a decade.
A Raika herder Bhanwar Singh, who was camping near Sadri, told us what else you can make out from footprints. “Camels’ faces are like human faces to me,” he said, “I see them once and never forget them!” The beasts, contentedly chewing thorny brush, all looked identical to me. But I was willing to take his word for it. Bhanwar Singh went on: “I can not only recognise an adult camel I last saw as an infant, but in the most of the cases I can also tell who his mother is likely to be!”
Not surprisingly, Raika animal healers are respected members of the community, for they take care of them. They are the mainstay of the Raika economy. They’ve been known to miraculously cure ailments with herbs, clay and plants found in the desert, where modern medicine has failed. Which brings us to my story … finally.
Apparently, one of the most effective diagnostic tools Raika healers use is urine. By smelling a ball of the wet sand where an ailing animal has urinated, it is said that the healer can deduce what the animal is suffering from, whether it has any deficiencies and certainly, whether it is pregnant or not. Apparently, a group of vets once visited a Raika healer, and were understandably peeved, not only with how effectively the healer was able to cure difficult diseases, but also by the ease and accuracy of her diagnosis. When they discovered that the diagnosis was made by sniffing wet sand, their disbelief (and probably no small measure of professional jealousy) grew even further. Wanting to confound the Raika healer by hook or by crook, they procured samples of human urine from a nearby pathology lab. Both samples examined were of females, one pregnant and one with no apparent health problem.
They asked the healer to deduce what she could from the two samples. The healer solemnly poured the first sample onto some sand, kneaded it into a ball, and sniffed. “This is from a woman, not a camel,” she said. “What else?” the vets demanded. “She’s pregnant,” the healer diagnosed. The vets, quite unable to figure out how she’d done it, gave her the other sample. The healer repeated her sniffing routine. Then she said: “This is also from a woman, but she isn’t pregnant,” she said. “What else?” the vets demanded to know again. The healer sniffed the wet sand in her palm again: “She’s in the pink of health —– no illnesses, no deficiencies…,” she said reflectively, “but she’s had a lot of kadhi for lunch!”