A day in the life of a cattle rearer

As cattle traders were preparing to get started for the day, one young man stood out as he sat on a sand pile, watching his cattle intently. Arif arrived in Dhaka with his father Abu Bakar and their three cows from Manikganj on Thursday evening, he said when this correspondent asked him. The father-son duo hired a truck for Tk1,500 to bring the animals to the capital city. “My father owns a small business back home. But we rear cattle in our house and every few years, when the cattle are all grown up and ready for sale, we bring them to Dhaka.” A man in his late teens, Arif has been rearing cattle at his home in Char Madhabpur village, under Sigair upazila in Manikganj. He passed his Secondary School Certificate examinations with a GPA score of 3.56 in 2014, but could not pursue further studies as his family could not afford it. At home, Arif is the primary caregiver for the cattle: he feeds them three times a day and bathe them. “I have become a full-time cattle rearer,” he told this correspondent. In Gabtoli, too, he woke up early in the morning to give the cows food and water, and then to bathe them in the Turag River that flows near the ground of the cattle market. Stroking the side of one of his cows with affection, he said: “I looked after them for two years. But now they are ready for sale.” He is not in a hurry to sell the cows, though, willing to wait until the last day of trade. “That way, we will get our expected price,” he explained. Besides, sales have yet to pick up pace in the cattle market, he said. Asked where he was staying until he sold the cows, Arif shrugged. “Here,” he said. He explained that he spent the night – as did other cattle traders in Gabtoli – right beside his cows, on a bed of straws with sacks of cattle feed for pillows. Is it not uncomfortable sleeping on a field beside animals, surrounded by dirt? “It’s not too much trouble,” Arif shrugged. “We are not here for long – only two or three days.” Asked what they are for meals the night before, Arif paused for a while. “We ate a loaf of bread and eggs. We don’t need anything elaborate,” he said. “But I am going to see if I can find some rice for lunch.” Asked what he was going to do once he went home after selling the cattle, Arif said they were going to get calves. “We will buy four calves from our village and raise them. In two years, they will be ready for sale.” His eyes were on his cows when he said it, his eyes growing sad. “The cows you rear becomes a part of your life. It is difficult to sell the animals that you raise. But it is something we have to do.”