Holy Cow

“Milk Comes from a Grieving Mother” ~ leaflet by Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary

In terms of the airlines menu categories, we are a family of lacto-ovo-vegetarians: Ovo is only occasional.  We love cows, relish dairy products and find the thought of eating beef rather sickening.  My son is planning to go vegan and do away with the prefix lacto-ovo.  He feels that cows are the most exploited animals.  We milk them thereby starving, at least partially, their calves and we also slaughter them when they go dry: He lives in USA where beef is staple.  Most of the calves also end up at the slaughter house.  He feels that he wont be a party to this sinful treatment if he gives up dairy products.

I have spent part of my childhood in a village.  I have seen cows being treated with love and care.  Male calves too were taken good care of.  They were castrated and they powered the agriculture at that time.  A cow or a bull was fed and taken care of till the end of its life.  Once it died, the body was taken away by people who specialized in removing the skin and bones for various commercial purposes.

In those days the cows were milked but not to the last drop.  Some was left behind for the calf too.  Such milk could be considered fit for drinking by vegetarians.  But these days dairy has turned into an industry.  The industry treats cows as merely milk producing automatons and there are few ethical considerations, if any.  It is not a gentle industry.

Further, bulls are no longer needed as draft animals.  Religious cow owners let go of the calves and these turn into stray cattle.  Only a few are needed for reproduction.  The rest must be getting caught and ending up in slaughter houses.  The religious owner likes to think that he has not partaken of the sin as he didn't sell the calf for money.  The dairies, of course, are not bothered by these considerations.

Our cities are riddled with small scale illegal dairies.  The male calves born in these dairies turn into stray bulls that are a menace to the citizens.  Most of these dairies have no qualms about driving away the dry cows who roam the streets feeding on the garbage at the dumps.

With industrialization of dairy, male calves getting discarded and old cows and bulls being left to fend for themselves, it seems that our love for this animal is not reflected in the treatment meted out to them.

Perhaps the only conscientious way out of this guilt is to follow in the footsteps of vegans and give up diary products altogether.  This, of course, will not improve the fate of the poor animal.  But then, we can have the consolation of having nothing to do with the treatment meted out to it.

If this topic interests you and you have read this post up to this point you may also like reading this article: To-be-a-feminist-is-to-be-a-vegan.

How do you feel in the matter?

Support for the IronMan!

In his historical campaign, Mr. Modi projected himself as an Ironman with a legendary chest who will bulldoze all problems into magnificent solutions in one tenth of the time in which these were created.  There was much chest thumping amongst the followers who firmly believed that the panacea lied in Modi's victory.  Even fence-sitters like me were inclined to be charitable towards that belief.

In less than two years the tone and tenor of the discourse has changed.  The Ironman is being portrayed as a victim who deserves our fullest support because the whole world is conspiring against him.  There are posts in the social media suggesting that USA, UN Human Rights Commission, and Saudi Arabia are all after Mr. Modi.  It makes you wonder how could it be so after Mr. Modi's great thrust on international diplomacy, befriending Barack so as to be on first name terms with him and a most eloquent speech at the UN against terrorism.  And if you express your doubts on the social media the diehard fans howl at you.

Mr. Modi's Nepal initiative has failed miserably.  Fans say it is so because we cannot match the financial muscle power of China that has pumped in huge money to win Nepal over.  I don't claim any expertise in international affairs, but I do wonder why couldn't the billion dollar given to Mongolia, a little known country, have gone the Nepal way if this is the case?

Now the daal controversy is being blamed on traders who owe allegiance to Congress.  PM wanted India to be free from Congress. He knows for sure all the scandals that caused the public outrage that led to PMs victory.  With that knowledge and the fact of being in power, it should have been the easiest of the things to put Congress on the back foot by initiating action against it instead of preaching against politics of revenge.  Occasional noises are made about inquiry into Vadra's land deals and the National Herald case but it peters out quickly.  Any investigation into scams involving trillions of rupees are kept so carefully hidden that the public may be justified in thinking that all is forgiven and forgotten.  How is it that a party that has so much against it and is out of power is able to arm twist you through its cohorts without any fear of retaliation?  And then your supporters make big noise about bearing with the government in the distant hope of an golden era that seems to be getting more distant by the day.  Also how is it that the government machinery firmly controlled by you couldn't see the crisis coming and the game that the cohorts were playing?

Again, the current wave of protests against rising intolerance in the country is blamed on Congress and intellectuals who are all indebted to Congress.  It is as if Yogis, Sadhvis and BJP loudmouths are not to blame in the matter at all.  Or if they are, the Ironman is a victim of its own party and organization and we must show more understanding towards him.  As Arun Jaitley has said PM is the biggest victim of intolerance himself.

This call for more understanding and support is in stark contrast with the image projected for our PM whose mere presence in the seat of power was supposed to forcefully dispel all the gloom.  His own supporters are now portraying him as a hapless victim who needs greater support to be just able to withstand all the pressure being mounted on him from domestic and international spheres.

As a member of the voting public, I feel that our salvation lies in becoming more and more ruthlessly demanding and not in being compassionate towards the political class.  Is that unfair?