Animals

After yesterday's post, I think we need something light-hearted. So here is a slide show of the animals we've seen in India. You may have seen some before, and some of the photos are a bit blurry, but I suppose it's the idea that counts. (Set the time interval between pictures to at least 5 seconds if you want to read the captions.)

Slide show of Animals in India

Just a few comments about cows. I'd long heard that cows are sacred and wander the streets. I've heard that traffic will grind to a halt if a cow sits down in the middle of the street. I've seen pictures of emaciated cows thought, "is that how they treat a sacred animal?"


Well, I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Cows are sacred to Hindus (and Jains, who view all live as sacred.) No one will kill a cow. But that doesn't mean that cows are uncared for; I'd never asked myself, where do Hindus get milk? So far as I can tell, every cow is owned by someone and has a home. Every morning they are "put out to pasture," just as they are on farms in the US. What makes this different is that the "pasture" is the city streets of Bangalore. They wander the city, usually in groups of 3-10, looking for food. They find it in the garbage on the streets or in empty lots. They are, in fact, an essential part of the eco-system of the city.

In the country, they're even more important, because people collect the manure and make it into "cow pies", dry them in the sun, and use them as fuel for fires. Don't say "gross" or turn up your nose; the cow is a truly important part of they life of a city or village, cleaning up garbage and producing milk and fuel. Cows can get in the way, but when the cross the street, cars, scooters and rickshaws just move around them. There's always plenty of room and traffic is never delayed, much less stopped. We've also seen a cow eating a potted plant on a terrace, and the owner (of the plant, not the cow) used a stick to persuade the cow to go somewhere else. (Think of it as "shushing away" half a ton of pot roast that isn't in a hurry.) (Does anyone get the reference to "half a ton of angry pot roast"?)

Enjoy!
Slide show of Animals in India