Cattle parade: Sukkur’s horses and bullocks steal the show

First day was rained out but hundreds thronged the fair on Sunday.

SUKKUR:

Lal Par beat Commando while Noor Jehan left Muskan trailing behind in the dust — despite the Lollywood ring to their names, these speedsters were not the stars of the latest blockbuster, but of Sukkur’s cattle show on Sunday.

The first cattle show to be organised by the district administration in Sukkur was ruined on opening day because it rained the night before. As a result, the two-day event that was to start on March 5 was cut short because the venue had become too slippery and muddy. There was only a musical show. However, Sunday dawned bright and clear and the district’s most handsome animals took part in the excitements of the day.

Lal Par was the champion in the horse race while Noor Jehan was the fastest mare. Sat Rangi was the winner in the donkey race and the star pair of the bullock-cart race was Chabela and Rahojo.

Several commercial banks and cell phone companies put up their stalls beside the animal husbandry department’s stalls. A large number of people from Sukkur’s outskirts as well as flood survivors from nearby tent villages came to the event.

Food vendors, an elderly man on a megaphone warning of pickpockets, and various breeds of buffaloes, cows, camels, goats, sheep and bulls were the main attractions.

Published in The  Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2011.