that is, if you are a cow!

January 2017:

In India, cows are considered sacred.  According to the National Hindu Student’s Union, UK:

 “Hindus don’t worship cows. We respect, honour and adore the cow. By honouring this gentle animal, who gives more than she takes, we honour all creatures.

Hindus regard all living creatures as sacred – mammals, fishes, birds and more. We acknowledge this reverence for life in our special affection for the cow. At festivals we decorate and honour her, but we do not worship her in the sense that we worship the Deity.

To the Hindu, the cow symbolizes all other creatures. The cow is a symbol of the Earth, the nourisher, the ever-giving, undemanding provider. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. The cow is so generous, taking nothing but water, grass and grain. It gives and gives and gives of its milk, as does the liberated soul give of his spiritual knowledge. The cow is so vital to life, the virtual sustainer of life, for many humans. The cow is a symbol of grace and abundance. Veneration of the cow instils in Hindus the virtues of gentleness, receptivity and connectedness with nature.”

Sacred cows certainly have a religious history that has influenced the English language and imagery.  In the United States, we say “Holy Cow” to express our surprise. We declare a church/family/workplace tradition that won’t go away to be our “sacred cow” — too powerful a symbol to reconsider, even it it seems strange or out dated.

But reverence for the cow also has a practical history.  Indian rural farmers rely on the cow for everything: they work the fields, provide milk, urine for medicines and cleaners, and cow dung for cooking fuel.  Cow “pies” as we might call them in the States are shaped into round disks on flat surfaces (sidewalks, streets, tops of walls, roofs, etc.) and left to dry out completely.  They are then stacked into decorative towers and used to heat the home or stoke a cooking fire.  Our friend, Abhi, assured me they don’t smell while cooking and actually help to flavor the food.

On a number of occasions while driving, we have moved out of the way of an ambulance only to see that it was an “animal” ambulance… capable of fitting a whole cow inside.  It seemed like “cow ambulances” have a better response time than “people ambulances,” but that is only a sneaking suspicion.

Cows can be seen wandering in the middle of streets, holding up traffic and sitting on city side walks.  Just about anywhere you look there is a cow doing something.  But all these seeming “stray” cows are owned by someone.  The cows go home to eat at night, but they simply love going into the city to be part of the action.  India is a great place to be a cow!