WITH Eid-Ul-Azha round the corner, a practice common in the Middle East is making its impact in this Himalayan region as camels are out for sale in Srinagar for just one reason: Qurbani.
 Popular as Ship of Desert, the camels attracted curiosity of scores of passerby and even traders at Fruit Mandi Parimpora, as the tall animals Monday walked the marketplace only to be tied to a lamppost near a local Masjid there.
 Abdul Rehman a mutton dealer has imported the animals from the desert state of Rajasthan.
 The trader has been bringing them for the annual Qurbani sale for a couple of years in the past. But since 2006, the Rajasthan deal couldn’t mature.
 “I have brought them after a gap of four years,” Rehman says while negotiating with a group of aspiring customers.
 “Rs 45,000 for the tall one,” Rehman could be heard telling.
 After some negotiation, a deal settled.
 Two medico brothers from Narbal area –Dr Syed Aijaz and Dr Syed Wardul Hijaz jointly procured the camel for Qurbani.
 “We had made a Niath of camel Qurbani a few years ago and Alhamdulillah it realized today as the animal was available in Kashmir again,” says Dr Syed Aijaz, a medico at SKIMS while holding the camel’s rope.
 As for the camel seller Rehman, he recalls that it was his 20 something animal on sale for the Qurbani.
 “In the previous years I had brought around 20 of them, this time I brought four more,” he says.
 Rehman is optimistic that the stock will find customers before the upcoming Muslim festival.
 “Still I am not worried. Even if any of them remains unsold, I will slaughter it for sale in open markets,” he says.
 The word gets a instant response from many a avid passerby listening to the conversation.
 “Please do inform us. I will procure a KG or two for my family,” said a shopkeeper at the Fruit Mandi in the City west.
 As for the Gulf countries particularly Saudi Arabia, camel has often been a symbol of nomadic tradition.
 While tremendous oil wealth has brought rapid modernisation to the desert state of Saudi Arabia, the camel remains celebrated due to its connection with the traditional nomadic lifestyle of Bedouin Arabs.
 Throughout history, the camel has served multiple purposes as food, friend, transport and war machine. It was key to the Arab conquests of the Middle East and North Africa over 1,400 years ago that brought Islam to the world.
 The Arabic language famously has over 40 terms for different breeds, ages and genders of camel.
 As about the camel meat, it’s hot favorite with the Arabs.
 Specialties such as camel liver have long been on the menu of upmarket restaurants there. For now the meat is making into burgers as some big fast food outlets have started selling baby camel burgers.
 Well, the Kashmir taste- buds too have their plans for the camel meat.
 “We will refrigerate a portion of our share of Qurbani meat and make Tikkas for the rest of it,” says a man from Barzulla planning to procure the animal rare in Kashmir, for Qurbani this Eid-Ul-Azha. 

Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST