The salt-and-water trick and other mandi scams — how do you spot them?

Same tricks every Eid, and every Eid somebody pays for weight that walks off overnight.

• Salt and water. Heavy salt, then all the water it wants, just before sale. Looks full, feels tight and sloshy, and is a smaller animal by morning.
• Spray paint. White patches to imitate a premium breed. The colour sits too evenly and goes wrong at the edges of the hair.
• Teeth, filed or simply misrepresented.
• A gutful of feed on the morning of sale.
• A hidden limp, covered by keeping the animal standing still or walking it only on soft ground.
• A borrowed animal stood alongside to make the one for sale look like part of a good lot.

What else have you seen? And more usefully — how do you test for these on the spot without insulting a seller who is honest?

Pait pe haath maaro halka sa. Agar chhapaake ki awaaz aaye to woh paani hai, gosht nahi. Yeh dus second ka test hai.

Spray paint pakarne ka tareeqa: geela kapra le kar halka sa raggar do kisi aik jagah. Asli rang nahi utarta.

Aik aur jo maine dekha: seengh pe polish ya tel laga kar naya dikhana. Buddhe janwar ke seengh pe halqe hote hain, tel un ko chhupa deta hai.

Ab sawal ke doosre hisse ka jawab, jo asal me mushkil hai — imaandar bech ne wale ko be-izzat kiye baghair kaise check karein. Yeh ahem hai kyunke mandi me ziada tar log imaandar hain aur unhe shak ki nazar se dekhna ghalat bhi hai aur nuqsan deh bhi, kyunke woh phir aap se baat nahi karega.

Ilzaam mat lagao, darkhwast karo. "Aap ne paani pilaya hai?" jhagra hai. "Bhai zara das qadam chala dein" darkhwast hai. Har check ko us shakl me rakho jo aap kar rahe hain, na ke jo aap us pe shak kar rahe hain.

Har cheez ki koi maasoom wajah bata do. "Ghar me bachay hain, seedha hath lagayenge, isliye khaal dekh raha hoon." Ab aap ehtiyat kar rahe hain, tohmat nahi laga rahe.

Do baar jao. Sab se karagar tareeqa yehi hai aur is me kisi pe ilzaam nahi lagta. Subah dekho, qeemat karo, kaho ke sham ko aata hoon. Jo janwar salt-and-water se bhara tha woh chaar ghante baad wohi nahi lagega. Imaandar bech ne wale ko is se koi masla nahi hota. Jo bura maane, jawab mil gaya.

Bech ne wale ki taraf dekho, janwar ki taraf nahi. Jab aap pait pe haath rakho ya mun kholo, us ke chehre pe dekho. Yeh bataana mushkil hai lekin pandrah saal me maine yeh seekha hai ke janwar se ziada bech ne wala batata hai.

Aur aakhri usool: jaldi mat karo. Har mandi scam waqt ke dabao pe chalta hai. "Yeh aakhri hai", "abhi doosra banda dekh kar gaya hai", "Eid me do din reh gaye hain". Jo bhi aap ko jaldi karwaye, wohi aap ko nuqsan de raha hai. Agar aap chal kar ja sakte hain, to aap ki position mazboot hai.

Aur haan — do hafte pehle kharido. Salt-and-water wala scam khud ba khud khatam ho jata hai agar janwar aap ke paas do hafte rahe. Jo log Eid se aik din pehle kharidte hain woh sab se ziada dhoka khate hain.

"Jo bhi aap ko jaldi karwaye, wohi aap ko nuqsan de raha hai." Yeh sirf mandi ka nahi, har sauday ka usool hai.

Aik aur: udhaar wale bakre. Koi kehta hai "abhi aadhe paise do, baaki Eid ke baad". Us me aksar janwar kisi aur ka hota hai aur aap ke paas kaghaz kuch nahi hota. Har saal jhagre hote hain.

Do baar jaane wala tareeqa is saal use kiya. Pehla janwar sham ko dekha to bilkul alag laga — pait beth chuka tha. Bach gaya.