Though we hardly ate beef those earlier days before the Beef Ban I have been very close to the Beef Butchers I bought beef for my Alsation Dogs early 80 s and those days the butchers from the Bandra Bazar would drop the same at the company flat where I stayed at 28 th road Bandra .
I used take about 2 kilos a day good beef not leftovers I got a good discount and paid them monthly .
Now I stay close to the Bazar after the Beef Ban I began shooting their pain their struggle interviewed Intezar Bhai and his son convent educated Imran .
Sadly the Beef butchers owners Kureishis like the mutton butchers fought a lone battle as there was hardly any support coming from the others ..the Bakra Kasab jamat were in sync with them gave them moral support but the protest was singularly fought against the government by the Beef butchers .
The buffalo meat of the water buffalo has hardly any takers the main beef eaters of steak etc the Christian s I was told are not as crazy about bufffalo as they were about beef ..the hotel guys too don't much care for buffalo meat and the Dalits now buy cheap chicken that the chicken butchers sell at a hefty discount ...there are several stalls in the evening selling all this here and at JJ colony too..Most of the Beef shops in Bandra closed down ..even in the slums near Slaughter House or Shastri Nagar there are a few shops you can count them on the fingers of your hand ..
I was speaking to a buffalo butcher at Slaughter House he said they were threatened by rogue right wingers and were worried about false cases if they did not give in to the extortionists .
He was planning to move out of this trade and was asking me if there was some job in Bollywood ..he looked like a tired defeated man.
I already told you about the butcher at the Bazar who sells tea..he moves around like a zombie but he has to do something .
So this is in brief the day in the life of a beef butcher ..caught in the grind of life remorse and despair .
