Holy Cows

Okay, so we've all heard the story about how cows are considered holy in India. That's a given. Yet the impact of this simple truth needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Not only considered Holy, the Indian bovine has been granted divine authority to do as it pleases throughout India. They strut across India with the arrogance of someone born into the supreme race. It's as if the cows think they're British.

Outside of the comic value they provide to everyday life in India (lets face it, a Cow crapping in a storefront while the owner watches is pretty high on the humor scale) the bovine serve as the globe's most ineffiecient street sweeper. We've witnessed these guys down just about everything under the sun, with my personal favorite being a plastic bag! Seriously! A plastic bag just like the ones you're collecting in your kitchen because it makes you feel like an environmentalist (when we all know you'll never use them).

While we didn't catch the plastic bag on film (Film used loosly because I'm shooting digital pictures after all), here are some other staples of the Indian heifer diet.

The Shoebox - Indian Daily recommended allowance is 2 boxes. 1 in the event the box is red because that makes the impact greater - kinda like sports cars.

Banana Peels - They're "black tounge lickin' good!"

And other "uncaptured" foodstuffs: Plastic Bags, Candy Wrappers, Shoes, Newspapers, T-shirts, Bedspread (Ingrid has a shot of that below) and just about anything else you throw at them.

We used to feel guilty using the Indian trash can (A.K.A. throwing any and all garbage on the ground) but have since come to realize we're simply "feeding the cows". I guess it helps us to sleep at night, but I wonder what those plastic water bottles do to their digestive track???? Maybe that's where packaged milk comes from.....

Kui nyyd "Holy cowd" tolkida, siis otses mottes on see "pyhalik lehm" kui ytlusena seda tolkkida siis voiks oelda kas "issver-sussver" voi "ossa mu meie".

Kuid lehma peatakse siin pyhalikuks kyll ja kuigi neid kasutatakse piima saamiseks ei tule kone allagi, et sa lehma soogi jaoks tapaksid. Yldjuhul on Indialased taimetoitlased, kuid turistidele ikka pakutakse osades kohtades mingisugust liha.

Lehmad siin, lehmad seal, lehmad iga nurga peal.
Kui New Yorgis jooksevad rongi roobastel rotid, siis siin teevad seda tood jarjekordselt lehmad.

Soogiks on neil koikvoimalik praht mida inimesed paeva jooksul on tanavatele visanud. Ja lehmade onneks on siin seda kovasti. Kui mul alguses oli probleem prygi maha viskamisega, siis nyyd tunnen ma end lausa hasti teades, et ma jalle kitsesid ja lehmi toidan.
Lehmad siin ei ole pirtsud!
Lisaks heinale, lehtedele jm taolisele meeldib neile ka narida pabeit ja vahel ka riide hilpe.

Moni ime siis et nad siin nii jamedad on.
Ja ma saan ka aru, miks Indialaste jaoks lehmad nii pyhad on. Lisaks piimale, annavad lehmad neile ka tasuta kytte materjali. Yhesonaga, lehmade pannkoogid korjatakse yles ja kuivatatakse ara, et siis oleks millega loket teha soogi valmistamiseks.