Holy Cow!

Now and then, when I am going around in the Kathmandu valley, almost always, I get a recurring feeling. The thing that bothers me somewhere subtly hides the useless pride of a religion and nothing could bother me more than those stray holy cows. What a holy thing it has been! 

The irony is, some of the major political parties in Nepal portray cow as their symbol, take pride in calling it a national animal, yet they fail to address such problems. 

Scorching rays of the Sun penetrates through every inch of skin, smoke and dust pave the wind pipe, who knows for how long she's been starving? Yet, she is your holy. I am not an expert keeping data on the rise or the fall of the number of stray cows, but I am sure that the number will grow if it is not seriously handled.

Most of these stray cows are abandoned at a very young age and are the victims of the greedy world we live in. Most of them are the male calves that serve no purpose to the owners. These owners are scattered around the valley who own cow farms that produce and sell milk and dairy products. A bloke is no use.

The generation now seems have to relatively grown affection towards animals. It is mostly in the hands of the preceding generation who can and are ruthlessly abandoning even a week old calf or a mother cow gone dry. Sometimes, I wonder if such acts are the closest examples of how savage we are and we were. Look at a poor calf starving to death or the one crippled by a hit, what are they being punished for? 

A man's world is becoming so selfish that it is simply seeking utility in everything. 

The problem is not only of the stray cows but of the stray dogs and other cattle too. Not to forget, there are humans in those states who on a daily basis battle with everyday life. Each of these problems are heartbreaking. And if you're sound enough to understand, each of these problems are loud enough to question you of your existence. 

Well, then what can we do? The simplest of all actions, we can speak up, write, share and aware people of the existing problems. We can do things that make positive impacts, probably support a person or an organization fighting for the cause. 

It is very unfortunate that in a country like Nepal, a man's best friend and the holy cow, manifestation of the goddess Laxmi itself, end up on the roads, homeless. 

We all agree that the government should do something about it, but until it's heard, let's make some noise. 

Photo Credit - npr.org