India's Sacred Cows: Eating, yet starving

If I get reincarnated, I wanna be an Indian Cow, or my cat, cuz I ain't just sure how it works...

RH

I was a cow, once. But, it's more fun getting incarnated as a human.

You know edgar, I was listening to that very story yesterday on NPR, and sat in a parking lot of a store, wasting gas, to hear the end of it.

I was following along, interested in how they would solve the plight of the cows, when, in the end, nothing happened.

It made me wonder how much the "average" person in India really respected the animal.

For instance, one shop keeper was saying how he would see a cow go after a bit of mango in a bag, and eat the bag as well, because in his words, the cow was "over hungry".

So, if the cow is so revered, why a people not feeding the urban cows so they don't become over hungry? The owners let them loose on the street every day, leaving it up to chance they find enough to eat.

The plan of reducing plastic was pretty thorough, even to the point of wanting to print some kind of label on the thicker bags to show they were the proper type, but no one adhered.

So, is the sacred cow just that? Something everyone says they respect, but privately can't be bothered?

I think you pretty much got to the point, Chai. Indians are flushing down the toilet the core of their culture for Western style commerce.

How awful, consuming all those plastic bags and dying that way.

The other beef I had with the story was the reporter-- Robert Krowlwich (sp?), he's to light and snappy to report on something like that, completely inappropriate in my view. By the end of the story it became a quaint anecdote, nothing more.

I have read, although i cannot vouch for the accuracy of the contention, that the cows of India are a greater resource when they are not slaughtered. They provide milk, of course, and their manure has long been used on the fields, and when dried, as fuel. Among the tribesmen of east Africa, the ownership of cattle was a symbol of status, so they would not slaughter them. In lean times, they'd make a small slit in the neck, and drink the blood, but not taking enough to injure the animal's health.

Poor cows.

The Indian culture is rich, dramatic, imbalanced, utterly gorgeous and chaotic--always. The place is filled with mystery and spiritualism, ancient religions, but when it comes to regulation, I just don't think it's worked its way into their collective pysche-- it's not America, where we mess up plenty, but this would be unacceptable.

First off, we'd never have cows in the cities cause health laws, but if we did, every animal rights activist would swoop down and put a halt to it-- they'd them off to someone who owns a farm for abused cows and they'd live out their lives to ripe old age.

BANG!!!

Beef backstraps!!!

You are fresh, cj.

I work in IT and thus work with lots of Indians, many who are vegetarian. Some will eat chicken, maybe a little fish.

I love to tease them about how they inadvertently ate beef (or actually did). "Did you like the onion soup? I wonder how many beef bones they had to simmer to get that rich stock!"

At one of our clinics, I'd say about 85% of the staff are Indians.

I was up there once when they had ordered a group luncheon.

I remember thinking....oh this is great. I'm not that hungry, but with some vegetables, rice and other stuff I can make a light meal.


When the food arrived, it was beef barbeque, jerked pork and other nasty stuff like heavy potato salad and macaroni salad.

I was the only one that avoided the meat, and ate some cole slaw and pinto beans.

Those were American Indians.....