THE GENTLE COW
by Nihal Mathur
Page Four

But if you cannot afford to give a cow in charity, you can certainly feed one. At an individual level, people routinely feed the cows--especially the wandering ones in the streets. But what is unique to India are several institutions that look after the cow, chief among them is the Gaushalaor "House of the Cow." Conceptually different from the dairy, the gaushalas,the gau sadaus,the the pinjara polsetc, maintain even the non-milking, old and sick cows along with those that are physically handicapped and heed human care and attention for survival. Mr. Ramavtar Aggarwal, Office Secretary of the All India Gaushala Federation said that there are more than 3000 Gaushalas in India which are charitable trusts managed by public funds.

There are many other institutions that also look after the interests of the cow. So one really wonders how come cows are still on the streets? Talking to a wide cross section of people including bureaucrats, politicians, social workers, and those involved with the welfare of the cow, I found the answer as complex as the problem. In the final analysis, it is best to say that there is no will to act either by the people or by the State. Maintaining status quo is the most expedient option. Summing up pithily, a government official said, "One should understand and accept the cows in the street as yet another paradox of contemporary India."

Perhaps this is the bane of modern times where ancient Indian values seem to be out of place in an industrial society. Traditionalists lament the apathy of educated urban Indians who are ambivalent in their feelings for the cow which seems to have become just another animal. They say that for a country known for its principles of vegetarianism and non-violence, it is a shame that not only is the cow treated so badly but also cow slaughter is still permitted in India.

Gandhi, the father of the nation made a passionate appeal to ban cow slaughter in India. He wrote with great depth of feeling for the cow and called it a "poem of compassion". He said that the cow is the representative of the mute world of animals. With the language of its eyes the cow seems to be saying to Man that "God has not made you our master so that you could kill or eat or mistreat us. Instead He made you to be our friend and protector". Such a fine thought can only emerge from this land where the cow is a symbol of its civilization. The songs of glory of the cow is a priceless gift of India to the rest of the world.