Kerala society was an agrarian society till recently. The
paddy fields, the coconut groves, the river, sea and other water bodies
were integral part of the lives here. Another significant part, though not a
direct one in many cases, was played by the cow. Cow? You may ask. Yes sir, the
humble cow (and the bull).
So, what is the big role of
this ordinary animal in our lives, one might wonder! To start with, the cow
gives us milk (someone recently said - no it doesn't we have to
extract it; which is technically right, but let’s not get into that right now).
Now, in spite of the White Revolution and the Operation Flood, pure milk is
something hard to come across. As the cow sheds have disappeared from the
house compounds, so has the accessibility to pure milk. And
those who are used to drinking fresh milk, right from their own farm, finds it
hard to adjust when even litres of milk don't suffice where a few
glasses would have been enough for the entire family's needs.
Coming back to the topic, let’s
see the Cow's part in sustaining the economy. First, it provided the family
with fresh and pure milk - which helps to enjoy that hot cup of morning coffee
/ tea (as the case may be). The women of the house sell a part of the milk to
the needy neighbours (thereby earning a small income for themselves) and use
the left over milk to produce curd. Now, the curd can be used as such or it
further gets converted to butter milk - after some amount of churning - with
delicious butter as the by-product. Now, the butter is carefully stored and is
turned into ghee - or clarified butter, as it is sometimes called - and is
stored for various uses. Moreover, being the far-sighted women they
are, the ladies of the house also sell butter milk and ghee in the
neighbourhood! Not only does this add to their earnings but also eliminate the
need to buy these from the market, where they are sold at higher rates.
Apart from that, mothers would
agree that milk is one of the must have items in kitchen - it is used not only
for coffee/tea, but also for innumerable food items like Kheer (the humble payasam,
which could be palpayasam, palada or even the easy to make semiya), paneer,
khoya, halwa and what not! The cream of the milk is said to be one of the best moisturisers and those who are beauty conscious
can use it as their own personal beauty secret - with no side effects at all!
(Ever heard the story of Cleopatra, the most beautiful Roman Empress, who used
to bathe in milk?). And money saved is money earned!
Before heading out of the
kitchen, let me tell you this as well - that little leftover from yesterday's
menu need not be dumped into garbage. You can put it in the bucket (every house
with a cow has a bucket dedicated for it - wherein one pours the strained water
after cooking rice, banana peels, vegetable skin etc etc) and give the cow a stomach-full of
healthy water (called kaadi vellam or simply kaadi in vernacular). The banana
leaves from the small feast, remains of jack fruit, even the leftover rice goes
into this water and the cow is only happy to chew and drink them all... The end
result is that there is no decaying food waste in the compound, which could be
the breeding ground for disease spreading germs. That means less money is spent
on medical bills!
According to Hindu customs, Cow
is the symbol of prosperity - it is regarded as 'Gomaatha' - the giver of all
riches. Perhaps it is a title well deserved. Apart from the milk and its
by-products, cow gives us dung and urine, both of which are excellent manures.
Believe it or not, but the cow dung is said to possess anti bacterial and anti
radiation properties and was used in the early days for purification purposes.
In fact, it is being said that the Russians have even resorted to putting a
layer of Cow dung between the metallic layers in the Space shuttles
to protect the space travellers from harmful cosmic radiations.
Back home, when the tragic gas
leak in Bhopal killed more than 20,000 people in 1984, it is said that people
living in houses with cow dung coated walls were not affected. Atomic power
centres in Russia is said to be using cow dung to shield radiation. As far as
my memory goes, the floor of our homes in the villages used to be smeared with
cow dung. Every two days or so, the floor would get another coating of the dung
- thereby keeping out the harmful bacteria... That means a safer environment to live in!
Some studies have even revealed
that 'Agnihotra', a Hindu ritual performed using cow dung and ghee has negated
the nuclear radiation effect. Panchagavya, a major constituent of Hindu
rituals, is also derived from cow. It is a mixture of cow dung, urine,
milk, curd and ghee, in prescribed proportions. This mixture is said to have
great health benefits. It is also being widely used as fertilizer and
pesticide. Ayurveda also recommends Panchagavya for various ailments. You might
be surprised to know that it is even used as a base in certain cosmetic
products. (Another reason to throw away the expensive cosmetics and save some money?)
Apart from these, the Ayurveda
also recommends urine therapy, wherein distilled cow urine is used for
treatment of flu, arthritis, bacterial diseases, food poisoning, indigestion,
oedema, and leprosy among others. (An easily available cure - perhaps less costly as well).
Agricultural activities of the
past also centred around the cow. There were bulls as well - to plough
the land, as well as for transportation purposes. (That was an added advantage in the olden days when the vehicles were not ruling the roads).
The 'Holy Cow', as you can see, is called thus for a reason. Ever since we started regarding it as a mere pet
animal, which was not a necessity, our lifestyle and lives have taken a turn
for worse. We have not only lost the touch with cow, but also with our roots,
agriculture and ourselves. For a cow is not merely a cow. It is a lot more than
that, as the term Cownomics suggest - it is a whole economy in itself!
Disclaimer: Some observations regarding the anti-radioactive properties of cow dung has been mentioned based on some reports that I had read earlier - when Google-ing was not the order of the day - so I don't claim to know it all!!!
Disclaimer: Some observations regarding the anti-radioactive properties of cow dung has been mentioned based on some reports that I had read earlier - when Google-ing was not the order of the day - so I don't claim to know it all!!!
Image Courtesy - Google images
6 comments:
Way to "go", Nisha (pun intended :-))
Nice one - informative and entertaining.
WOW....
COW!!!
We miss that good old days Nisha... Now milk is Milma no other picture is drawn in younger minds!!
Enjoyed reading..
i wrote so lengthy about this-
about horses and cows considered as the wealth of old regimes and many things - Anyhow I lost whatever I wrote -don't know why .
Can be my mistake with handling the system !
I am tired to write it again !
So bare with me
The crux of it is that it's thought provoking + some inhibitions !
reading this i remember my childhood with acow shed near our kichen ,full of cows and we children putting all the waste into the pot in front. watching baby cows running around waspart of our pass time. thank you nisha
For the young generation now Milk means milma or the like. I remember recently i was explaining about cow to my 3 yr old son. I told him from where we get milk, what cow eats, about calf, my childhood experience etc. After hearing the whole stuff he made an attempt to correct me with his knowledge "Amma.....cow doesn't eat grass....it eats waste....i see that every day.....haven't you seen it?" So innocently he was trying to explain me & i couldn't reply. True it is a common sight on Bangalore roads.I didn't know how to convince him that whatever he is seeing daily is not right & what a picture in my hand says is the right one.....!So i opted not to discuss further on the topic atleast till he sees a cow which is eating grass(at least....eruthil,kaadivellam & all will be a luxury i feel.)
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