I was visiting a friend who had suffered an accident. He had been riding his scooter on a dimly lit road when he bumped into a black bovine sitting in its middle. The impact tossed him into the air but mercifully he escaped with just a few fractured ribs. As I congratulated him for not breaking his neck, his wife interjected, “Bhagwan ka shukr hai, gaai bach gayee, varna hamara kya hota.” I would have laughed, if her statement hadn’t made me cry. With a rise in cases of cow vigilantism related violence, it was too close to reality to be dismissed as a joke.

Before venturing further, a disclaimer. I am not a beef eater. I am not even a beefeater drinker. I value a cow’s life, just as much as I value any other ‘ jeev’s’ life. Also, like most of us I place human life above all other forms of life.  I do disagree with one popular point of view though. When people claim that by equating the cow and mother they elevate its stature I feel they extend no such favour. The status of the cow remains unaltered and sadly, it demeans the mother. For which self respecting Indian would leave his ma on the road to rummage through garbage and choke on polythene.

Once I was a part of a conducted sightseeing tour in the capital. There were some European tourists on the bus. As  we made a turn on a busy intersection they spotted some cows on the road and called each other to see the spectacle, something they had never witnessed before.  They excitedly clicked pictures and made videos, preserved the scene for posterity. I was intrigued by how something so ordinary could interest them and so I asked why. “It’s amazing how you share your roads with animals.” quipped one of them visibly impressed .

The truth is that we share because we have no choice. As I drive down the road nowadays I notice what my friend said a while ago. An owner of two dogs and an astute observer  of animal behaviour  she commented, “Have you noticed a change in cow demeanour? They are much more self assured, more confident. Earlier if they saw a vehicle coming they would move to the side of the road. Now they just stand and stare. They are so sure that no one would dare harm them.” While the assertive bovine behaviour is a reality, the sad hungry eyes, shrunken stomach and the dwindling gait is a reality too.

I am in no way in favour of cow slaughter but I doubt if banning it is enough? The act of abandoning these animals on the streets by poor cattle rearers  is an act of desperation and prudence. It is unfair to expect them to  house and feed unproductive animals to preserve our religion. If there was a monetary incentive ( however small) to deposit them in gau-shalas probably cows would not be roaming on the streets. Whether this would be in the cow’s welfare is debatable. Cow deaths in gau shalas due to neglect are too frequent to dismiss. In the end, until the state is willing to bear the burden of keeping a non productive animal alive and healthy, nothing will improve their plight, not even the distinguished title of gau mata. 

Death with dignity versus a life of starvation and destitution. To kill them instantly versus letting them die slowly but surely.  A difficult choice. I wouldn’t want either for my mother…..would you?

( published in my column in the Tribune on 22/12/18)