Meaty markets and weekdays bazaars

For a city devoted to its meat-centric cuisine, it’s surprising that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are meatless days in Karachi. There’s no slaughter, sale or consumption of meat on these days. Romantic stories are told about why this is – perhaps it was the court order of a Mughal Emperor named Akbar who married a Hindu-Rajput princess called Jodha. Since she was vegetarian, and he wanted to please her, he commanded that meatless days be observed. Perhaps not. Nowadays, the reasoning behind it seems more practical: such days preserve meat stocks, they allow butchers time off, and they keep the cost of meat in check. Nonetheless, they are difficult days for the typically carnivorous Pakistani.