The Yak Herder’s Son

“Father lives up in the moors herding Yaks and for a while I lived with him too. One day, he had summoned me. He said, “I am going to move from here, the grass lacks goodness and the Yaks do not look happy here. I have found a place and you will help me build a shed there.” I knew father’s predicament. The roof of the shed leaked and the monsoon was bad. Father had been living in water for a while so I agreed. That same night one of his Yaks gave birth to a stillborn which added to father’s sadness. The next day we moved and built a new shed in a plateau which was half a days walk from where we were. We took all of fathers beast with us to their new home. The next day we left them to graze in the greener pastures. For me all the grass looked same but father told me this grass is better for them. I believe my father. And that is another thing. Towards the end of the day, a Yak was missing. I realised it was the mother yak whose baby had died. Frantically, I went looking after her. Father had trusted me with his Yaks and I had to find her. By the end of the afternoon I had reached father’s old shed. And that is when I saw the poor Yak mourning the loss of her baby. She had walked all this way and she had made me walk too. I knew that if I was to reach safely before nightfall to where father was than I had to make sure we left immediately. And with the mother Yak who refused to leave, time was slipping fast. After a while she obeyed my shouting and trudged alongside me as I held the rope in my hand. By this time I was very hungry. I had lost my energy in the sweat and I had not had anything to eat all day. I will never forget that hunger. I have never been so hungry since and I do not think that I will be. My steps started becoming smaller and my vision blurry but I still had the rope clutched tightly in my hand. I had to bring father’s Yak to him. I knew eventually I was going to faint. A little ahead I saw wild greens and I plucked it and ate it. But that was nothing, just like “a little cumin in the elephant’s mouth”. I was almost giving up, I could not walk anymore. I tied the Yak to the tree and I slumped to the ground. Then I closed my eyes and dreamt of mother and all the food she cooked. All those vegetable and all those rice. And I ate, all in my dream. Drops of rain in my face woke me up as I lay there. I gathered whatever energy there was left in me, untied the Yak from the tree and started walking. I think the mother’s food that I ate in my dreams gave me the courage. Now, I could see our shed. I saw father and as he approached, I saw he had food in his hands. I left the rope and ate everything there was. I immediately went to sleep. When I woke up I did not know how long it had been. But I saw father. He said, “You have done a good thing by bringing this Yak back home. I had noticed the Yak missing and when I did not see you all day, I knew you were out in the forest searching for her.” That day, I remember I felt like I had accomplished something important. The next day, I left father with his Yaks and left for the village. I knew that I would not be seeing them for a while.”