August 15, 2005

Cows Everywhere

There are cows and bulls everywhere you look. They stand in the lanes, lie on steps and wander in the middle of the road. Sometimes you find them mating, sometimes rooting through garbage. Large heards of cows travel down the middle of the road. Sometimes they block traffic.

Often people touch a cow as they pass and then touch their forehead between the eyebrows. I have come across some boys abusing a bull. One boy whipped it with its own tail, another kicked it in the stomach. There is cow dung in the lanes and on the roads, the smell is ever-present. It's very important to carry a torch (flashlight) at night. Several times, as I have passed a bull, an Indian has been walking past the same bull and has said something aggressively in Hindi to the bull and then said to me "dangerous". I don't know what the problem is or what I can do to avoid it, I just try to walk around them and not touch them.

Most of the cows and bulls are not owned by anyone. Some of the cows are tied up and milked but most are just "wild". In Delhi, they have started pay 2,000 rupees for each cow or bull that is turned in.

I've also seen a few rats and mice. In India, they have a problem with cows in the same way that Europe used to have a problem with rats. The difference is that generally, they like the cows.