As it happens every year, the butchers will miss celebrating Eidul Azha with their families, as they will be busy making extra bucks. “We just cannot celebrate this Eid the way others do,” says Nadeem Akhtar Saeed, a butcher from Bhara Kahu. “We don’t buy new clothes or try tasty dishes. It is non-stop work for us.”
The Eid day for Nadeem starts with prayers. After this greetings are exchanged with the dear ones. Then it is time for him to wear his oldest ‘shalwar kameez’ before he leaves home as early as 6 a.m. He meets his team at an already decided spot and they head to Islamabad.
Nadeem has some permanent clients who seek prior appointments. They contact him on his mobile phone. “We slaughter 10 to 12 animals per day which includes three to four bulls. At the end of it all, I am able to make around Rs10,000 to Rs12,000 on the first day of Eid,” he says. The routine continues like this for three days.
On normal days, Nadeem works as a daily wage worker in a local butcher shop. “My shop remains closed for 15 days as no one needs to buy meat for almost a month after Eid.” Nadeem makes up for his absence on Eid day by spending these ‘off days’ with his family. “The money we earn is enough for 15 days without work.”
His team mostly includes untrained youngsters who either want to become butchers or are looking for an opportunity to earn something on this occasion to make ends meet. One of them is Majeed who works as a cook in Islamabad. Majeed says that he has no choice but to sacrifice the joys of Eid to earn some extra cash.
“The money I earn is not enough for my family. Almost all of my pay is spent paying utility bills and school fee of my children,” he says. Majeed says he will be able to make his own team by next year. “At this time, I am only a helper. I earn half of what is earned by the team leader.”
He says he works 18 hours a day on Eid. “We leave at 6am and come back home around 11 p.m.” Majeed was not able to buy his wife and children new clothes. “I could not afford doing that. They are a little disturbed because of this.”
For Majeed, the Eid day is extremely tiring but at the end, he comes back with his share of meat and a good amount of money. “That is celebration enough for me and my family.”
No comments:
Post a Comment