Old Delhi comes alive with Eid festivities

As one walks out of the Chawri Bazaar in Old Delhi, the street moving towards Jama Masjid is bustling with women decked up, and children eating at food stalls, all of which are open despite the heavy rains that lashed the city for the past few days. Matiya Mahal street opposite Jama Masjid smells of food, and colours can be seen everywhere with the constant sound of 'Eid Mubarak' being heard every few steps.

Further ahead towards Meena Bazaar near Urdu Park, in front of historic Jama Masjid gate, hoards of people make their way through stalls buying jewellery, toys, clothes or footwear; and eating at food stall selling Biryani and fruits.

Among all this 'comfortable chaos', sits Mohammad Salim Khan, a goat seller at the goat market here, who managed to not only sell all of his 80 goats but all managed to sell the most expensive goat in the market this year.

"It takes efforts to rear a good herd of goats. My goats sell the quickest and highest rates every year. This year the most expensive goat sold weighed 350 kilograms and sold for Rs 4.5 lakh," says Khan, who has been in the business for 35 years.

"This is the only time where we earn enough money for the entire year. The rest I save for my two daughters' tuition who are currently studying in class 12 and 9," he adds.

Khan and another seller, Ahmed Majid, say that a huge amount is spent on rearing the goats. "A goat, which will sell for lakhs, would need milk two times a day, channa and even almonds. It will have to be reared for at least 2-3 years to get a good price for it. Daily expenses can vary between Rs 300 and Rs 600." Majid says.

"I used to feed Masoom, who was two and a half year old. 2.5 litres of milk every morning and evening, and 100 grams of almonds. Channa would cost another Rs 150. Did this for a good 2.5 years to make it healthy," he adds.

Majid, on the other hand, was trying to sell his 58 kg goat for Rs 60,000. The other smaller goats were sold from anywhere between Rs 10-25,000 which is a lot higher than last year's prices due to less supply.