This month holds a lot of importance for the Muslim community because Hajj is performed and Eid ul Adha is celebrated during this time. In this post, I’m not going to talk much about religious aspects. Instead, I’ll focus on the things I’ve personally experienced and what usually happens in Pakistan during this month. According to me, it may not be 100% right but I’ll simply share what I’ve seen and felt.
Since childhood, I’ve loved animals, and that’s one reason I used to really enjoy this month. Everywhere you’d look, you’d see cows, goats, and camels. As I grew older, I started going to the cattle market with my elder brothers and friends. There was a strange kind of excitement. Even now, I wonder where all that energy came from, going to the market for several days in a row without getting tired. Whenever someone in the family wanted to buy an animal, I would insist on tagging along.
Buying an animal from the cattle market is an art that not everyone has. You have to check its weight, beauty, teeth, and so many other things. But the most important part is bargaining, which takes a lot of time and effort. That’s where your real skills are tested, how low you can get the seller to go and still get the best deal. This whole process is called “making a deal.” It takes quite some time to find the right animal you walk a lot, go from one place to another. In Karachi, we have Asia’s biggest cattle market with countless animals. One thing I’ve noticed is that if your intention and budget are clear, you’ll definitely find the right animal you just need to give it time.
In my opinion, there’s a huge difference between how things were 20–25 years ago and how they are now. Back then, there wasn’t so much showing off. There used to be just one big market that the entire city visited. But now, there are markets all over the place. Earlier, people didn’t show off like they do now. These days, it feels like people are doing this not for religious reasons but to impress others, bringing in massive animals, decorating them with lights, placing them on display stages so people come from far to see them. I don’t get that. Even if someday I can afford it, I think I’ll still prefer buying a normal animal, maybe more than one, depending on my budget. Only people from Karachi will truly understand what I mean.
Over time, I lost interest in all this, especially after I started working. Now, I don’t enjoy it as much. Yes, I still do what’s necessary, but just enough to fulfill the responsibility.
This time, I visited the cattle market after 2–3 years. These pictures are from Malir Mandi taken by me through my cell phone Infinix Hot 40i. You can see how congested it is, animals standing so close together that it’s hard to walk around. Passing between two cows is risky, you never know what mood the animal is in, and one kick from it can hurt a lot hahahaha
We spent 4 hours roaming the market and finally found the right animal. We got it loaded into the vehicle and brought it home. The kids and adults were all excited, everyone started feeding and taking care of the animal. Kids especially enjoy this a lot.
There’s one thing I really dislike: making animals run around in the streets. What happens is, boys gather the animals and then run with them through the streets and roads. Sometimes animals get loose and start running wildly, even hitting people. It’s very dangerous. There have been many incidents where people got hurt badly but still, some people don’t stop doing this. It’s become a trend now. Maybe some people enjoy it, but thankfully, I’m not into that stuff. Earlier, I used to help with feeding and cleaning the animal, but not anymore. Now, I mostly just watch hahahaha
Two days ago, my elder brother bought a goat, so I took the kids to see it. My elder son is scared he won’t even touch it. But the younger one is super bold. He goes straight to the goats without asking and starts petting them. Maybe he got that from me! But still, it’s important to be careful around animals. I’m sure people have seen on social media how badly animals can sometimes react and during this month, these incidents increase.
Today is the day before Eid, and tomorrow is Eid here.
Happy Eid to all of you!
Happy Eid to you brother. That's a lot of animals. Are they for selling for the Eid celebrations? Here in my place Muslim brothers and sisters buy a lot of goat
Happy Eid to you too, yes, its the big market of cows,bulls, goats, camels
I think people at your place mostly focus on Goats and there could be some specific reason for that, at my place, its all mix but mostly people focus on Cows Bulls
Sending you Ecency curation votes.😉
Hurrayyyyyy Thank you for the love and support
Happy Eid ul Adha to you!
It seems that people and customs change everywhere but like you said you also changed. It would be funny to see the animals dressed with the lights. That is truly showing off though.
Your son is brave - he seems so comfortable feeding the goat.
Yes, a person do change at every stage of life and that is necessary, if one do not change, it means he/she is not learning and this is my opinion. Change for good is accepted but people in this world are changing for bad now and forcing it to say good. Well, yes I say it show off but still I think its between him and the Almighty and we just know a little.
hahaha my son is too much, his way of speaking with Goats and funny talks , I dont know from where he get those words and mind hahahha
Yes I agree with you - in the end it will be between them and the Almighty.
Your son is a goat whisperer. 😀