Pali, Rajasthan, April 17 -- Karna Ram knows the truth about himself. It's a calling actually, conferred on him by a divine decree and a long line of ancestors. A calling which lightens his being and gives meaning to his life. Ram is a caregiver and protector of camels. Doesn't matter if everyone else is giving up. Ram will die a camel herder.

That's who I am. That's what my heart wants, Ram says.

About seven years back, after months of prodding by his wife, Ram sold his herd of 25 camels and migrated to Maharashtra to work on daily wages at a roadside eatery, miles away from home. It made no economic sense to raise camels. Trade in camels had collapsed after the Rajasthan government introduced a law in 2015, which banned slaughter and ...