FOR centuries, Karachi’s Shidi Community has been celebrating the Shidi Mela — festival of Crocodiles — at the shrine of Hazrat Shaikh Sabir Sultan Baba Manghopir. It usually lasts for three to four days.

On Sept 20, 1967 the four-day annual mela concluded at the shrine. Hundreds of men, women and children in colourful costumes danced to the beat of the drums. Also, as per tradition, they painted the crocodiles that, to date, live in a pond around the shrine, decorated them with flowers and fed them.

All four days, every morning, the tribesmen flocked to the shrine of Baba Manghopir and each of the four main tribes celebrated the festival in its own distinct way.

The hot water geysers served as a unique setting for the event, the thick subtropical foliage providing natural surrounding to the Manghopir crocodiles lying in the land-locked pond. The shrubbery, the water gushing from the springs and the crocodiles heightened the effect of the traditional dance and music. Soon the dance became frenzied and the music reached a crescendo. The devotees marched towards the rendezvous point where goats were sacrificed. Then the procession moved towards the pond carrying goat meat, sweets, flowers and scents. At noon they arrived at the pond, at which point the drumbeats went louder and louder.

Leading the procession were the alam-bearers. The leaders of the procession climbed down into the pond that had 15 crocodiles. Barefoot, the five men fearlessly waded the water towards the crocodiles. They painted the oldest crocodile called Mor Sahib and fed meat to it. The devotees then fed the remaining 14 crocodiles. After that, they marched towards the Baba Manghopir shrine. The ceremony was rounded off with Fateha.

It wasn’t just the festival which highlighted how deferentially animals were treated. On Sept 23, the Karachi zoo’s administration announced that the facility would soon receive a new look as they intended to renovate the 100 odd zoo cages. In some cases, renovation was to take place after several years. The Karachi Municipal Corporation had already appointed a renovation squad for the purpose to whitewash all the cages and repaint all the name boards. A few of the cages would be fitted with wire nets of a bigger mesh to enable the visitors to have a better view of the animals.

On the cultural front, two important art events happened that week. On Sept 19 young artist Lubna Latif’s paintings went on display at the Pak-American Cultural Centre (PACC). Most of her work was done in watercolour and ink sketches. According to an art critic, she used colours with youthful exuberance, and her village scenes hinted that she’s influenced by Allah Bux while her landscapes had the Zainul Abideen touch to them.

The PACC, on Sept 23, was also the venue for a lecture on art, delivered by a renowned American painter and printmaker, Michael Ponce de Leon. He said an artist was a person contrary to the currents of society. He complained that people looked at art with preconceived ideas, rejecting anything that was contrary to those ideas. He advised people to have an open mind. Apart from members of the art community who had come to listen to Michael Ponce de Leon, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan was in the audience as well. The artist was in Pakistan for three months and had been requested to conduct a 75-day workshop in Karachi to share his knowledge and talent with his Pakistani colleagues.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2017