THE GENTLE COW
by Nihal Mathur
Page Two

Considerations of conscience aside, it was natural that in a predominantly agricultural and pastoral country like India, cows were and to some extent still are, considered to be the real wealth of the people. After all it is the cow that gives birth to the bulls, bulls that are harnessed to plough the fields and to provide transportation. And then of course, there is the mild--milk that is cultured to become yoghurt--yoghurt which is churned to produce butter--butter which is converted into gheeor clarified butter that in India is used as cooking medium. In addition to this, there is paneeror cottage cheese and buttermilk. Indians cannot forget khoyaand mana--the other milk derivatives used in preparation of sweets. No wonder the cow is considered the backbone of rural society.

Paeans of praise is reserved for cow's milk and gheewhich is considered to be an elixir. Dr. D. Bhandari, the former Director of Animal Husbandry in Rajasthan said, "You see it is the wonderful bacterial flora of the cow's stomach that imparts this matchless quality to its milk ideally balanced for humans. Buffalo milk may be richer but it is the cow's milk that sharpens intellect, gives swiftness of body, stability of emotions and a serene nature to the one who drinks it."

Also taken, but in measured quantities, is cow urine or gau mutrawhich has a unique place in Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine. Commenting on the chemistry of gau mutra,Dr. C.H.S. Sastry, Director of the National Institute of Ayurveda said, "Cow urine is used to produce a whole range of ayurvedic drugs, especially to treat skin diseases like eczema." Besides, gau mutrais a well known disinfectant. Anti-septic property is also the attribute of cow dung or gobarwhich is mixed with clay to form a plastering medium for mud huts. It is a proven fact that mud huts plastered with gobarkeeps insects and reptiles away. This is the reason why people in the countryside still store grain in huge earthen pots plastered with gobarand gau mutrato keep it free from insect manifestations.

Gobarand gau mutrais also mixed with mud and straw to make dried cakes that fuel kitchen fires. Traditional wisdom says that in burning these cow dung cakes, the temperature never rises beyond a certain point, ensuring the nutrients in the food are not destroyed by overheating. Besides, the smoke of gobarclears the air of germs. Gobarhas also been successfully used to produce bio-gas and generate electricity for consumer use. Scientific studies show that gobarhas been found to be resistant to solar radiation. And of course, gobarmixed with gau mutramakes for excellent manure and a natural pesticide. Modern day ecologists are saying that as compared to chemical fertilizer which damages the land in the long run, gobaractually improves the health of the soil. It isn't hard to see why Indian mythology says that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, resides in cow's gobar.

Continued on page 3