You follow Bob and Jean Harrison’s Maruti van cum animal ambulance, as it makes its daily trip to the Asswin donkey shelter at Kerki Majra – on the rural outskirts of Gurgaon. Along the way, the British couple—who are in their late sixties, and have lived in India since 1994— stop to stack the vehicle with sacks of animal feed, shredded jowar and vegetables. Things look like they’re going smoothly, and you expect to reach the shelter in good time; when the van breaks down
under the weight of its load.
“Oh, this happens quite often,” says Jean matter-of-factly, as Bob unloads the van and prepares to fix the flat tyre. When you eventually get to the shelter—comprising two well-ventilated structures, with spacious stalls located on 35 acres of grassland—you are greeted by two workers, Sonu and Raju; and a small resident pack of rescued dogs; who respond enthusiastically to Enid Blytonesque names like Ginger and Snowy. Next, Sid comes up and nibbles at your trousers. “Oh, our Sid likes the ladies to pay attention,” says Bob. Sid is a lovely little blue-grey donkey; with such an adorable face, that you just have to pat his head and murmur endearments in his long ears.
The plot of land has been given by the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation. Inside, the shelter’s 61 donkeys and mules nibble at the grass, flick their tails at the flies, and bray happily to each other. There also are four horses. The shelter of the Asswin Project for Donkeys and other Animals in India, is the closest thing to quadruped heaven;
in a country where animals are usually worked to death, and treated merely as beasts of burden.
Earlier generations perhaps had a more humane approach to the animals in their care. Bob shakes the bran and jowar into feeding troughs, occasionally throwing in a juicy radish as a treat. “Rudyard Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, wrote Beast and Man in India: A Popular Sketch of Indian Animals in Their Relations with the People, about the country’s working animals; where he mentioned that donkeys were used by washer-men and potters to transport loads,” he says. Life as a dhobi’s donkey was probably idyllic, in comparison to the horrors of Gurgaon’s building sites – where donkeys are widely employed. Indeed, sparkling Gurgaon—with its fancy malls and blazing towers, that house the offices of major corporations—was built off the backs of these humble animals. Donkeys labour at the sites, at the brick kilns, and in the stone quarries of nearby Chhattarpur; carrying loads far in excess of the 35 kgs mandated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960. In a country where human life itself is so devalued, it isn’t surprising to learn that donkeys are beaten mercilessly, and made to work endless hours. This despite suppurating sores on their bodies, and even broken legs. The labour often results in them dying of a broken back.
Almost all the rescued donkeys at the shelter hobble. One, regally named Edwina, was abandoned after her hoof was torn off; others bear scars; and a few have ripped ears. A white mare called Lily—who was once the star at numerous weddings—has a hip that juts out; from being made to dance on her hind legs. “You just have to place a finger on
the backs of some donkeys, for them to collapse. The nerves have been so worn down by overloading,” says Bob.
A former employee of the British High Commission, Bob officially set up the Asswin Project in July 2006. The project, which currently runs on about Rs. 70,000 a month, is financed almost entirely from Bob’s pension; and a few donations mostly from the UK. Indian donors are few and far between. Perhaps it’s because donkeys are inextricably connected with labour, and with rituals of humiliation. Until recently, offenders were garlanded with chappals and paraded on donkeys. Calling someone a ‘gadha’ is virtually an abuse. Most Indians consider the donkey ridiculous, and entirely overlook its loyal and hardworking nature. So, while there are many who are eager to protect cows, traditionally considered holy, there are few protectors of donkeys.
Whatever the roots of the Indian distaste for donkeys,
it is a shame that we ill-treat
this animal, which continues to play such a crucial (and
of course, unrecognised) role in India’s growth.
Bob’s sole fear is that there will be no one to carry on the Asswin Project’s good work after they are gone. “We hope we can find someone who can take over, so we can retire again,” he says as you leave.
For the sake of the hardworking donkeys of Gurgaon, you do hope someone as capable,
upright, and committed as the Harrisons turns up – soon.
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