Within a partially recalled, partially imagined geography I want to inscribe the presence of an itinerant community, whose seasonal migrations from the plains of North India to the higher, above tree level pastures in the mountainous regions of Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir along with their animal herds, is the stuff of grit, grime and magic. All the more because it has remained unnoticed in the mainstream understanding of the people of India. They touched my life in my growing years when I trekked in the regions which were their seasonal kingdoms: touched by their plentiful grace, dignity, majesty, and endurance. Over the years these sublimating memories stayed with me as I searched a visuality that could partake of their worldview.
Some months ago, on the 10th of January, 2018, a "chirping bird" who “ran like a deer", an eight-year-old girl from the family of the Bakarwals near Jammu did not return from taking her horses out to graze. What was done to her by a goup of men of the settled communities is difficult to recount. I feel the need to try, as many others like me have, to restore to her a modicum of dignity. By tracking the trails of her lands, to keep reminding us of the blood on them.
- Nilima Sheikh