Donkey racing

Travel writers celebrate differences between cultures. How does Emma Levine do this in the extract you have studied? In A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat Emma Levine manages to celebrate the differences between the two completely different cultures by making herself sound humble and modest. Levine also tries to give a fair, objective, unbiased view on everything she encounters on her trip. She is also extremely aware of her surroundings and therefore is also aware of the unusual culture clash between the British and Asian societies. Firstly, Emma Levine compares the Karachi donkey race to the American Cartoon Television programme Wacky Races as shown in the quote “if we could join in the Wacky Races”. She also compares the donkey race to “Formula 1 without rules” and Formula is a western sport so she is showing the sport from a British point of view. The title of the extract is “A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat” which contradicts herself because Polo is a very British sport while a Headless Goat is very Indian so she puts two completely different things together to show she knows that there is a clash between hers and theirs culture but she doesn’t mind it. Levine also shows how the Indian culture is more relaxed on rules and safety as seen in the quote “Ahead of the donkeys, oncoming traffic…had to dive into a ditch…Yaqoob loved it”. In England tis would be thought of as a crash however in India it is just part of everyday life is very normal. Another quote to show the leniency of the rules in India is” I really enjoyed that…But I don’t even have my licence yet because I’m underage!” which is illegal anywhere in the world but in the western world will result in a big fine or being arrested while in India you can normally get away with it. She also describes both of these events with a sense of humour. She shows the local people of as very kind yet very competitive. This can be seen in the quote “Oh yes, that’s no problem” which shows them as pleasant people and the quote “Voices were raised, fists were out and tempers were rising” shows just how competitive the locals of Karachi are over Donkey Racing as they are about to have a fight over the bets. Another quote to show the locals being friendly is “we’ll open the car boot, you climb inside…” which presents them as kind as they are offering Levine a lift. “Men standing on top their cars…hanging out of taxis…perched on lorries…” displays how frantic and competitive the races are as it is a scene of chaos. Their culture can be shown as chaotic and hectic with the quote “…two approaching donkey-carts in front of a cloud of fumes and dust…” which describes a fast anarchic race. Yet another quote to show this is “… the leading donkey swerved, lost his footing and the cart tumbled over” which describes a frantic and wild situation. These paragraphs show how Levine manages to celebrate the vast difference between the cultures of the western world and the unique culture of India.