HOLY COW!

Holy Cow!

India makes up for 30% of the worlds cows. These aren’t just any cows either…these are “Holy Cows”, Zebu. When you first visit India you will be visibly shocked to see that livestock aka cows are wandering the streets literally unmanned. They are everywhere.  You land at the airport and exit to the parking you will see lots of things that are shocking but the biggest shocker is cows…. Lots of skinny bovine!  You will see them grazing on the sides of the road, living on garbage in the middle of the street. In fact if I was standing in the road next to a cow and a car was coming and had to hit one of us, well the driver would choose to hit me. Unlike the US where pedestrians have the right-of-way, not in India…cows do!

India scripture tells us that cows are a gift from the Gods to the human race. Cows represent the divine mother that sustains all human beings and brings them up as her very own offspring. Cows are considered to be the true wealth of the people. A cow gives birth to a bull, a bull plows the field, they give milk and butter, yogurt and cheese. Their dung is used to make special clays to build their homes and to light their fires.

Ghandi, the father of the nation made a passionate appeal to ban cow slaughter in India. He wrote a poem with great depth of feeling for the cow and called it a “poem of compassion”.  Well, I have a poem of compassion of my own that I have written for the cow after this mornings “encounter”.

Oh Holy Cow

I wonder where you are now

To the Hindu you are a sacred beast

But to me you are just my favorite feast

I am glad that in India they would never beat you

But that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to eat you

They decorate and dress you in fancy Holy Wear
but I think your best look is medium rare

It’s so early in the darkish morn

And I am wishing you weren’t born

I left the mission to walk to mass

And now I feel like a total ass

For one of my steps was a bulls-eye hit

Into a pile of your  ‘Holy shit”

The End