because there is not enough water to survive much longer. Phulan is to be married to

Hamir, and Shabanu is to be married to Murad, Hamir's brother. That night while they

are sleeping the rain comes and they now have water to survive until the wedding, when

"The winter sky is hazed with dust. There has been no rain in nearly two years,

and the heat of the Cholistan Desert is as wicked as if it were summer." (Staples, 2)

Shabanu finds a female camel that is having a baby, but the mother is dying

because the baby camel is stuck. Shabanu remembers when someone was having a baby

that someone would lay on the pregnant woman's stomach, and try to get the baby to pop

out. Shabanu tries this and tries and tries, and finally gets the camel to have the baby.

Then the mother camel dies and Dadi is angry because that camel was to be part of

Phulan's dowry. Shabanu names the camel Mithoo. Shabanu takes care of Mithoo and

now she feels like Mithoo is her camel. None of the other female camels would let Mithoo

nurse, so they had to hand feed him. A feed Mithoo fast enough with just putting

"I say little and try hard not to stare at Fatima. How I long to be like her--never to

everybody else get things for her. Sharma comes and tells Dadi that Shabanu will be

"Your grandfather is too good of a man to lie in such company. He would have

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mithoo Shabanu, Shabanu Dadi, Pir Shabanu, Mithoo Dadi, Phulan Shabanu, Shabanu Phulan, Fatima Mama, Fort Derawar, Cholistan Desert, Mohammad's Rahim, shabanu dadi, shabanu phulan, dadi shabanu, sher dil, thousand rupees, phulan's wedding, nazir mohammad, phulan shabanu, guluband dadi, sell guluband, camel baby mother, sell guluband dadi, channan pir shabanu, phulan's wedding dowry, talking phulan shabanu,
Approximate Word count = 4300
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page double spaced)