The ‘Rabbit Girl’ of Pahalgam is Her Nomadic Family’s Only Hope

A poor Bakarwal nomad’s family depends on their daughter and her rabbit for their survival.

Rubeena with her rabbit in Kashmir's Pahalgam. 

(Graphics: Aroop Mishra) (Photo: Shafat Hussain)

Cameraperson: Shafat Hussain

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

Producer: Tridip K Mandal

You can find her standing on the snow, holding a little white rabbit with black patches – she’s Rubeena, the ‘Rabbit Girl’ of Pahalgam in Kashmir.

For her family of eight - an ailing father, mother and five other siblings - this 10-year-old and her rabbit is the only hope of earning two square meals a day.

It’s only when the tourists visiting Pahalgam pose with her rabbit that Rubeena can earn some money, the family’s only source of income.

Rubeena with her rabbit in Kashmir's Pahalgam. 

(Photo: Shafat Hussain)

I have been doing this work for last 4 years, now. I earn around 300 rupees in a day. So, this way, I can afford the education of my siblings and my father’s medicines.

Rubeena

Six years ago, Rubeena had to drop out of school when she was in Class 3, after her father Abdul Majeed Awan was diagnosed with asthma. Abdul is from the nomadic Bakerwal community who rear and travel with their herd of sheep and goats but he had to give up his traditional means of livelihood.

My father has a lung disease, so he can’t climb the mountains with the sheep. He can’t ride a horse. He starts coughing if he does.

Rubeena

The Awan family lives in a mud hut on a forest land just next to the tourist spot of Pahalgam. During the peak tourist season Rubeena can be found standing with her two rabbits, offering them to the tourists, who pose with the furry pets and pay anything from Rs 10-30. On a good day Rubeena is able to earn Rs 200-300 but after the COVID-19 pandemic, such good days are few and far between. The family hopes better times will eventually return, and till it doesn't, they will have to depend on Rubeena and her rabbit.

I am thankful to God that due to my daughter, I am not forced to go out and beg on the streets.

Abdul Majeed Awan, Rubeena’s Father