THE SACRED COWS OF INDIA
India has one-third of the world’s cattle living on three percent of the world’s land. Cows, venerated as symbols of motherhood and givers of life, are treated as sacred in India.
Imagine you are driving at high speed down a one-lane road, and a cow suddenly appears in front of you. Also imagine there are pedestrians walking alongside the road. Do you hit the people or the cow? In India, that’s a no-brainer. You hit the people. You could be in real, immediate trouble if you hit that cow.
Still, you won’t see much about cows printed in your India guidebook. Once you’re there, however, you will be very conscious of them. Whether you’re in a big city like Delhi or a small village, cows are everywhere, and their attitude implies they own the streets.
The main smell of India is smoke and urine. The smoke is from burning cow dung.
These aren’t Texas longhorns or Wisconsin dairy cattle. They’re skinny, often have the Brahma hump and have absolutely no fear of anyone. They truly have picked up the message that they are revered.
Only in India could a student truthfully say to a teacher, "I’m sorry, but a cow ate my homework." Cows become part of the family and even share house space in the villages. I was told it’s not unusual for cows to eat rice off your plate if you’re not careful.
Environmentalists in India are campaigning for a ban on plastic bags, because sacred cows are choking on them while trying to eat vegetable waste stored inside. The Indian state of Lucknow has banned plastic bags, and several others have indicated they will follow suit.
The first time I saw a woman dressed in a colorful sari following a cow and putting its fresh dung in a pail, I was a bit shocked. Then someone pointed to the fuel used to cook my meal: dried cow dung shaped into bricks. Later, I saw yards with manure for sale dried in various shapes. Sometimes the do-it-yourself types just slap it on the walls of their houses and let it dry. The smell of burning cow manure is one of the major odors of India.
Without cows turning waste into fuel, India would have an energy shortage. For centuries, cows have provided fuel for heating houses and cooking food. And cows seem to eat almost anything. A veterinarian reported finding electrical cords, old shoes, assorted clothing and razor blades inside the stomachs of cows. This willingness to eat anything allows cows to serve as living garbage cans in a country that has poor garbage collection otherwise.
When I was in India in 2001 to work with victims of the earthquake, as we walked on a village street outside Bombay, my guide pointed out that the pavement was made from dried cow dung. He said most of the village houses had floors made of the same substance.
The plastic bags you see in this picture are a hazard to the health of cows.
Why so many cows?
The cattle of India do serve useful purposes, though. For example, young, healthy cows provide milk. In fact, in a country where an average person gets only an ounce of protein a day, milk is a major source of that protein. Although most people who are milking a cow provide it with food, there are peasants who are so poor they expect the cow to find its own food.
Cows are used for pulling carts and for other labor, but I saw more camels pulling carts than I did cows. Because a Hindu would not think of eating beef, once a cow is no longer productive it is simply turned out onto the streets to fend for itself.
In the larger cities, cow-catchers are sometimes employed to remove cows to locations where they won’t interfere with traffic. This is not a popular job, because people get upset when they see someone mishandling a cow. They can’t be sure it’s not some rustler carting the cow off to be turned into steaks. Killing cows is a crime in most of India. Still, I understand steak is available on the black market — the butchers, of course, being non-Hindu.
The plight of cattle
Despite their sacred status, most of India’s cows get little care. While they are not harmed — in fact, they can be protected violently — little provision is made for feeding them. Many starve or suffer in other ways, such as by eating plastic bags and other garbage that can kill them.
Still, cows give a trip to India a special character. Most us who visit there will remember the millions of cows on the roads and in the streets long after we have forgotten all but the most impressive tourist sights.
