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| Arabia |
| Contracting - Saudi-Style |
| 2006-08-28 |
| The Shepherd Who Lost His Voice You might have seen films or flipped through comic strips about the adventures of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan could communicate with animals but not with humans after having lived with apes and other denizens of the forest. Muhammad Iqbal, an Indian expatriate, too could not communicate with humans after tending camels for 13 years in the desert of Al-Summan in the Thumama district near Riyadh. Then, following a chance encounter with his own compatriot, he slowly regained his voice and his memory. He then realized, “I have only milk to live on and no money.” And thereby hangs a tale. Iqbal, who hails from a district in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, came to Riyadh in 1993 to work as a camel herd for his Saudi sponsor. Soon he was packed off to Al-Summan, where he tended camels and drank their milk. He was practically cut off from human contact. His exposure to camels enabled him to communicate with those animals, responding to their likes and dislikes, and carry on a symbiotic living. He had also become a denizen of the desert. |
| Posted by:Threatch Unons6270 |
| #2 Wonder if he ever in the 13 years took a wife. |
| Posted by: Gliting Jinenter9646 2006-08-28 13:15 |
| #1 His exposure to camels enabled him to communicate with those animals, responding to their likes and dislikes, and carry on a symbiotic living. You still have to be careful when talking to him. He tends to spit a lot. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-28 00:53 |