From car wash to ‘gaye’ wash?

Trend for squeaky clean sacrificial animals at service stations picks up steam

KARACHI:

Sacrificial animals and automobiles might both be quadrupedal - and some livestock may even be a means of travel - but that’s normally where the likeness ends.

Now, though, in a surprising twist, sacrificial animals have replaced vehicles at the city’s car washes.

As Eidul Azha draws closer, car service stations have been witnessed replacing their signage with new boards reading ‘Gaye Wash’ - literally translating to ‘Cow Wash’, as they invite customer to get their sacrificial animals squeaky clean.

The trend has been picking steam over the past few years and is in vogue this time around, especially given the financial situation following a pandemic-related lockdown. As car washes seek an additional means of income, the emergence of the trend has also ensured that not many go out of work in these challenging times.

Consequently, the age-old practice of bathing sacrificial animals right outside one’s doorstep seems to be fast losing steam. Instead, many citizens regularly visit car service stations to keep their animals clean, washed and in good shape.

This explains why most car service stations in and around Liaquatabad are offering services for bathing animals. Many of them have even sought the government’s approval to remain open until 10pm.

According to the workers at car service stations, in most cases, people bring their animals for bathing directly from the cattle market and take them home only after they are cleaned. Also, they said, many had been bringing their animals for bathing daily.

Getting an average-sized cow bathed at the station costs between Rs200 and Rs250 and bathing those on the heavier side costs not more than Rs300 to Rs400.

A task more delicate

However, regardless of the cost, bathing animals is more complex than washing cars, said the workers.

Animals need to be cleaned with love and care, they explained, adding that most get befuddled when they are bathed with water flowing with high pressure for the first time.

Besides, the workers said, care also needed to be taken to ensure that shampoo did not get in their eyes or mouths.

According to the workers, bathing a cow average in size takes around half an hour and if the service station had enough space, two to three cows could be bathed at a time.

A matter of convenience

Moreover, car service stations offering services to bathe sacrificial animals have saved people time and inconvenience.

According to citizens, it is the need of the hour as the city continues to witness high-rise apartment buildings replacing more spacious houses. It becomes difficult to regularly bathe sacrificial animals when one resides in an apartment, they pointed out, adding that water scarcity in the city made matters worse.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2020.