Even in this modern era of 21st century, we all have read the importance of that very sacred animal in our KG textbooks and we use to call her MOTHER. Though we remember those chapters and the lessons that it gave but do we practice all those thoughts in practicality? It was a fresh and energizing morning of Sunday in Mumbai. On the insistence of my uncle I went out with him to fetch milk. As it was a holiday so we decided to go on foot. We walked for about half an hour and finally got to the milkman’s house. There were almost 6 cows tied to poles and were being fed.
The milkman welcomed us saying, “Good Morning sir.”
“Has it been milked?” My uncle asked.
“No sir.” replied he guiltily. “Not yet. I am just done with my preparations and going to milk. Sorry for being late today.”
I was quite amazed of what kind of preparation he was talking about. He went in and came out within a matter of second with a dummy like something who’s appearance was somewhat like that of a Calf. He made the moth of that non-living toy touch the udder of a cow. The cow stared on that dummy quite awkwardly as if she was too confused of it. I glanced over my uncle’s face but it looked as casual as if he knew of it very well and nothing was there to induce out his curiosity. There was a normal silence out there. After a few tries milk ran out of the udder and a bucket full of fresh milk was collected. I couldn’t hold my curiosity anymore and broke the silence by asking out my question.
I asked the milkman, “what is this calf like toy and what is it for?”
“It is a duplicate of that cow’s calf.” He replied with a normal smile followed by a sigh. “The calf died a week ago. But we do not simply dump the body instead we peel off the skin and get a dummy calf made out of it. It takes only 200-250 rupees to get all these done. The cow can’t be milked unless the calf doesn’t taste the milk. So we pretend to make her calf (the dummy calf) touch her udder and it fools her. If I don’t use this, it will adversely affect my business.”
The reply itself was so inhumane that it left me completely dumbstruck.
“These people sometimes sell the calf to butchers and ask them to return the skin, so that they could get the duplicate calf made.” My uncle said in a lowered voice when the milkman went in to fetch some pots.
I was left with no words after hearing all these and especially after the proud and justified explanation of the milkman. We left off the place and started back towards home with canisters full of milk in our hands. While on the way, I was wondering how someone can assert all these so affirmatively having no any sort of guilt. I asked a question to myself that what is more better? To kill an animal in a single blow or to letting it die every day watching its own child starving and being butchered off. And I found myself bound to choose the 1st option. Although in Vedic era the cows were milked but only after their calves were properly fed. It has been clearly mentioned in the ancient texts that ‘Gouhatya’ was the host heinous crime and was the most punishable too.
But what are we doing in this era of 21st century where we call ourselves to be more advanced and most civilized? Has this inhumanity and brutality been taught by our great civilization and should this be the result of modernization?
I am leaving the answers of these questions on you and expecting to hear in this regard…….
