Holy Cow
Although my antecedents are Malayali, I have never actually lived in Kerala. When I was small boy, we used to regularly spend the summer vacations in Kerala. My Achamma (father's mother) was the base around which the family was organised. She lived in a small village called Chowwara. In those days it had just recently been electrified. Water was obtained using a bucket dropped into the well. The well was lined with mossy plants and a large lizard (or perhaps a small iguana) referred to as the 'Irma' also lived in the well (not in the water but along the ridges in the wall. Cooking was done in a wood-burning stove.
There was a canal running in front of the house with channels leading into the fields. The place was green and full of life. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees. There were tadpoles in the pools, all kinds of birds and butterflies, owls and bats at night. For a small boy it was an amazing place and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacations.
My father is the eldest of five brothers. All were settled in jobs by then and my grandmother had no need to farm for a living but she liked her animals and despite her opacifying cataract (which she resolutely declined to undergo surgery for), she insisted on keeping and looking after her cow and her chickens. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees.
Eventually the cow grew old and stopped lactating. Friends and family suggested selling the cow. She refused. 'She's been giving us milk all her life. Now she's entitled to retire.' I assume she (the cow) eventually died of old age.
It's been a good life for one cow.
Can we afford to give all the cows a life like that? Or will they die of starvation, disease and plastic ingestion because it's more and more impossible to slaughter them for beef? Do we have an affectionate old lady to look after every ageing cow?
Does the government have a retirement plan for all the cows? Or will they become a liability for the small farmers because they can't sell them when they stop producing milk?
There was a canal running in front of the house with channels leading into the fields. The place was green and full of life. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees. There were tadpoles in the pools, all kinds of birds and butterflies, owls and bats at night. For a small boy it was an amazing place and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacations.
My father is the eldest of five brothers. All were settled in jobs by then and my grandmother had no need to farm for a living but she liked her animals and despite her opacifying cataract (which she resolutely declined to undergo surgery for), she insisted on keeping and looking after her cow and her chickens. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees.
Eventually the cow grew old and stopped lactating. Friends and family suggested selling the cow. She refused. 'She's been giving us milk all her life. Now she's entitled to retire.' I assume she (the cow) eventually died of old age.
It's been a good life for one cow.
Can we afford to give all the cows a life like that? Or will they die of starvation, disease and plastic ingestion because it's more and more impossible to slaughter them for beef? Do we have an affectionate old lady to look after every ageing cow?
Does the government have a retirement plan for all the cows? Or will they become a liability for the small farmers because they can't sell them when they stop producing milk?
Gau rakshaks should take retirement.
ReplyDeleteTough life.
ReplyDeleteYes....kodasinaad of my ajji was same. We had 12 cows around 4 calves and used to be perpetually playing with them. Her idea of good food used to be fresh milk. And yes all of them died naturally. Narrative is the same. Tapioca leaves were a taboo. The calves didn't know that they are poisonous. We used to take them to a nearby river and keep playing. It runs dry now. Chakka , Chena, chemb, kaachil, coorkan, jaambakai. ...heady lovely carefree days.
ReplyDeleteI have also read that nowadays, cows are kept pregnant constantly via artificial insemination for more milk. Isn't this sad? Is this even healthy for us to consume? Why isn't anyone discussing this?
ReplyDeleteSometimes i really missing our childhood vaccations with you in kerala. Now u expressed here those.... then 3 of our few childhood nostalgic memories came.....
ReplyDelete