00:10Mura communicates with his sheep using a secret language,
00:15shaped by centuries of tradition and trust.
00:25In the dry semi-arid grasslands of Kach, Gujarat, 70-year-old Mura is among the last remaining
00:32shepherds who rare the native Patanwadi sheep.
00:39I have been doing this for 60-65 years now.
00:43My parents taught me how to do this when I was 5-7 years old.
00:48We were very young.
00:50They taught us how to feed the sheep, tie them, release them and take them for grazing.
00:57We were very little.
00:58We named the sheep like Changli, Mali and Jaki.
01:03And when we called them by their names, they come running to us.
01:07Changli, Changli, Changli.
01:09They immediately come to us.
01:11We love our sheep just like how we love our kids as they are our livelihood.
01:20Pastoralists or Maldharis as they are called in Gujarat have rared native breeds like the
01:25Patanwadi for generations.
01:28This breed is uniquely adapted to the scorching heat and climate of the region.
01:34Their long migratory routes help disperse native seeds and their dung enriches nearby farmland.
01:43But the economy that sustained this framework is collapsing.
01:48India discards 80% of indigenous or desi wool it produces every year.
01:55Global markets tend to prefer finer varieties such as marino or pashmina.
02:01Leaving the coarse wool produced by native breeds like the Patanwadi with few buyers.
02:08This has led to changes in the flock for many shepherds like Mura.
02:14The challenge we are facing is that we used to get rupees 22 for one sheep.
02:20For one sheep only.
02:22Not one kilo.
02:23If they share one sheep, they used to pay us rupees 22.
02:28Now, we have to pay the sharer, pay for their transport and barely anyone takes the wool.
02:34It is all usually discarded.
02:35When we sell the sheep for meat, we sell it based on its weight.
02:40We get paid about rupees 2000 to 4000 per sheep.
02:44We can sell sheep only once.
02:47But wool on the other hand, we can sell every six months.
02:52So, selling wool becomes more lucrative for us.
02:57On top of this, shepherds now also have to deal with heavy rainfalls in the once drought-prone landscape of
03:04Kutch.
03:04The warming of the Arabian Sea has led to the formation of deep or cyclonic depressions.
03:11These depressions invite more rainfall and often cyclonic storms.
03:18Dr. Vijay Kumar from the Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology has been keenly observing this phenomenon.
03:25What we understood from our data analysis was, one is the monsoon has shifted one month backwards.
03:33In a five-year cycle, three years used to be droughts.
03:37Two years, we used to get normal and above-normal rainfall.
03:41Now, the last ten years, if you look at the rainfall pattern,
03:45almost eight, nine years, we are getting very good rainfall.
03:48It is more than 700-800 mm rainfall.
03:52The effects of climate change have been silently reshaping pastoral livelihoods.
03:57The shifting monsoons have disrupted the wool-shearing cycles for the shepherds.
04:04Increased rainfall has encouraged agricultural and industrial expansion in the region.
04:11This further shrinks the grazing pastures, putting the shepherds in a state of dismay.
04:20Not far from Moora's flock in the city of Bhuj, efforts are underway to protect these declining livelihoods.
04:29Several organizations have been working directly with pastoral families to create new opportunities for indigenous wool in India.
04:38This includes the development of wool insulation panels for buildings as well as materials used in automobiles and sustainable packaging.
04:49The Hunar Shala Foundation has been pioneering these innovations in Kutch.
04:55Even though we have 42 different breeds, and we have breeds which can live in minus 40 degrees to plus
05:0245 degrees.
05:03We are now importing wool from Syria, from Australia, New Zealand, China.
05:11And therefore, we are losing a lot of exchequer in the bargain, even though we have our own wool.
05:18So, we decided that let's develop the entire value chain of Indian wool, especially for insulation in Hunar Shala.
05:33We have blended two different types of wool here.
05:36One is from Patanwadi, and the other is from a breed in Saurashtha region.
05:41There is a difference in the quality of wool because of this.
05:44It has become a lot more softer.
05:47You will feel the difference if you touch it.
05:50Kavya and her team have been developing textile products using indigenous wool for contemporary markets at Khamir.
05:57This is a fiber that is not smooth like Pashmina or Himalayan wool.
06:01The carded wool still is very coarse.
06:04With, you know, our designers and in-house team, Khamir has been able to create very versatile, gender-free garments
06:12that are easy on the skin.
06:14We work around with a lot of linings so that anyone can adopt it.
06:17And that has led a lot of curiosity and awareness.
06:20Oh, this is kachi wool.
06:22That is, this is something that market did not know for so far.
06:26Through its Centre for Pastoralism initiative, Sarjeevan has been organizing exhibitions such as Desi Oon and Living Lightly.
06:35This has helped bring pastoral communities and their wool to urban audiences.
06:42For Moora, the direct collection of wool offers a small but important reassurance that his wool still holds value.
06:53From procurement to processing and market access, the wool value chain is slowly being reconnected to pastoral communities like the
07:01Rabaris.
07:02The community Moora belongs to.
07:11For generations, their wool was closely linked to local weaving traditions in the region.
07:17These efforts are helping restore that connection while generating income for weavers and shepherds alike.
07:33Shepherds are very smart. They do not let any sheep breed go extinct.
07:38So, Patanwadi is going to continue but in very small numbers if we are not able to find markets for
07:46them.
07:47Today, less than 4,500 Patanwadi sheep remain in Gujarat.
07:56There used to be around 80-90 shepherds here. But now, it is just me and my brother who rear
08:02the Patanwadi sheep.
08:04We need help with our wool. That is the only support we need.
08:11Our income from wool has almost stopped.
08:15We need help.
08:18Moora's secret language with his sheep has endured through generations.
08:22As landscapes shift and markets change, its future depends on whether indigenous wool can find value again.
08:30Moora's secret language with her according to the
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