<!-- BODY TEXT START--> UMERKOT, Sept 16 Perched on a small sand dune surrounded by freshly ploughed land with patches of shrubs and wild vegetation, 79-year-old Malook plays a Malhari tune on a flute as his family prepares land for farming.

It is Malook's favourite pastime after rains make his otherwise dusty and arid village in Thar an oasis of lush green foliage with plenty of water to drink, bathe and wash.

He said that Tharis feel genuine joy and spontaneous delight, more than that of Eid, when it rains because rain is a harbinger of life and whatever joys it brings with it. “I've not seen such an abundant rain in Thar throughout 40 years of life,” he said.

He complained that it was one-off experience for millions of people in Sindh and Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa to be displaced but “lacs of Tharis are displaced each year by drought and famine and the worst, our predicament is never taken seriously.”

Thar had experienced drought every third year since 1970 and famine after each decade, triggering mass migration from the desert to irrigated areas in search of fodder, food and water, he said, adding that a large number of their cattle and loved ones died during arduous journeys.

There is a saying in Sindhi depicting conditions in Thar that says “Watho ta Thar na ta bar” (if it rains, it is an oasis and if it doesn't rain it is a wasteland). And more than sufficient rains this year has turned Thar into a green oasis.

Fragrance of freshly blossoming tecoma undulata (Rohiro) and other plants with hordes of butterflies, honey bees and other nectar sucking insects are seen hovering around crops and vegetables of millet (bajhri), cluster bean (guar), sesame (tir), kidney bean (mooth), cow peas (Choonra), musk melon (gidro), water melon (hindano), squash melon (meho), wild cucumber (chibbhar), amaranths (mariro), digeria (lular) and other wild plants and vegetation.

Men, women, young and old sing Hamarcho as they weed out wild shrubs to prepare land for farming and children sell bagfuls of amaranths (Mariro), mushrooms, musk melon (gidro), water melon (hindano), by the roadside.

Tharis eat natural herbs and plants like mushrooms, amaranths, digeria, chenopodium, Purslane, wild cucumber, melons, pods of prosopis, fruits of capper and salvadora.

Almost all natural ditches and depressions locally known as Tal and Tarayoon have been filled to the brim with rainwater locally called as “palar”.

These will serve as main water reservoirs for humans and livestock for as long as two months with no latest technology to preserve this life giving source.

Ali Akbar Rahimo, an activist, said that rain had brought life back to Thar because now humans and as well as cattle would have plenty to drink and eat. The starving animals get healthy after grazing in green pastures, produce adequate milk and gets ready for mating. As a result they bring in hefty profit to their owners but there is no market for milk, ghee and butter and their by-products in Thar, he said.

Rain also recharges water table and makes land more fertile, he said. Traditionally, Tharis arrange marriages and reconstruct houses after rains because they earn handsome amount from crops and livestock.

They organise camel races, fairs and wrestling competitions after harvest otherwise there is no celebration throughout the year.

Poonmo, a peasant, said that he had a camel, which perished during his journey to irrigated areas in search of fodder and water. Therefore, he had hired a tractor to plough his land, which was comparatively expensive, he said.

He said that he had bought seed from Seths (shopkeepers) on credit and would return them after harvest but if his crop did bring in good yield he would remain indebted.

In some instances they barter seeds for seeds, he said, adding that this year they see an outbreak of rats, which eat away roots of their crop and affect yield.

Herds of cows are seen grazing in meadows as their herdsmen play on harp (musical instrument) locally called Chang. Apparently, they all seem happy but one herdsman Daim complained that all the rangeland (Gaucher) and green pastures had been occupied by influential landlords and cultivated, making it difficult for them to find a piece of land to graze their animals.

Rain and Thari people are tied in an invisible bond. They rush back to their sandy villages on sighting dark clouds in the sky.

In most cases Thari labourers working in factories and bungalows escape to their villages if they are not allowed to go. Even Thari cattle try to break free to rush back to Thar after rains. “We lose all control over our instincts when we see rains in Thar,” confessed a Thari boy who had returned from Karachi where he was working in a bungalow.

He said that his employer tried his best to stop him and even agreed to raise salary but nothing could deter his being away from the village when it rained there.