“I have been driving this cart since I was 20 years old, when I used to accompany my father. I saw Islamabad being built, and the authorities even took possession of my village to build a dam. After that we moved to Shikrial.

In those days, bull carts were known as the main source of local transport between villages, particularly in harvest season. I used to be overbooked because clients wanted to move their goods. Those days are gone now; this generation has never even seen bull carts. They have been replaced by tractor trolleys, and reduced to history.

I earn at least Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 very day, and the feed for my bulls costs Rs500 to Rs600. I spend around Rs200 on maintaining the cart and the bulls every month.

I’ve replaced five pairs of bulls until now, and this latest pair is Saheroo and Herra, and they cost me almost Rs75,000. If I was to rebuild the whole cart, that would be difficult because it’s hard to find a professional to build these nowadays, and it’s also rare to find someone left who can do the maintenance work on it. To rebuild the whole thing would cost nearly Rs600,000.”

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2016