A donkey cart race was organised and held as part of the Sindh culture festival in Karachi, on Tuesday February 4. The Sindh festival's purpose is to promote and celebrate the local culture and art of the province of Sindh.

Uniting people from Lyari and the rest of Karachi, the donkey derby began with much enthusiasm; under the scorching sun at Sea view.

Despite the heat and long waiting times, the forty over participants who were mostly laborers from Lyari, hung around with their mules posing and chatting with photographers and media people.

They were willing and excited to share their past experiences, given the opportunity to reminisce their past hobby at the derby. Some shared the names they had given their mules.

Ranging from common terms of endearment like 'Bacha', ‘dil jalay’ to unqiue ones like Memory, Computer and Package.

Others had even stained the names of their mules with henna on their bodies.

It seemed like the practice of decorating the carriages and mules with embellishments and paintings characterized ownership. It also appeared to me, that the laborers were contented with the chance to relive their hobbies than to be bothered about winning.

It’s a pity there was not much of a crowd to watch the donkey derby because it was a sight to behold – from the camaraderie of the racers, to the liveliness of the race and the happiness in the eyes of the racers when they relived what they missed.

Text by Taahira Booya/Dawn.com