A First Among Many - A Day spent in support of Cow Protection

 

Being an educator, I often think about the relevance of content we teach. The pedantic discourses of the classroom will have no relevance, if they are not applied or made relevant to real life. The tedious homily of economic laws is completely lost to students if they don’t see the phenomena occurring. When the discourses are taught in manner that is relevant and can be applied by the generation then only will they have any recall value. Else they will remain a hurdle in the mindless race for marks and GPA’s.

Most often as I walked out of the classroom after a lesson, I would ask myself, “Is this enough?” and often I would be left with no answers. I often discussed ideas with my students on educational trips and outdoor sessions, we did come up with ideas, but for many reasons, they never saw the light of day.

One of the ideas that had been germinating for many days was undertaking an event to educate the students on the relevance of cow protection in India. I checked with some of my students and they all unanimously responded in the affirmative. The objective was to learning something new and apply it to what we teaching every day.

An event plan was drawn up and we zoned in on an appropriate date. So, it was 5^th of September 2021. I thought the date was apt, considering it was Teacher’s Day. We wanted to thank our teachers by learning something new, the way they had brought new ideas and lessons into the most formative years of our lives.

The plan was to visit a Goshala. Goshala in the Sanskrit means a cow shelter where the bovine breed – cows, oxen and claves are provided sanctuary. With all possible options explored, we decided to visit Goshala – Indian Institute of Animal Welfare in Katchur district, Uttukotai, Tamil Nadu. The institute was founded by Dr S Shankardev, Dr G. Sadhana Rao and Shri K.M.Padmanabhan. The institute was registered as a public charitable trust u/s 11 of the Income tax act 1961 on 30-10-1988.

We spoke to the resident director, the able octogenarian, Dr G Sadhana Rao. Her passion and drive to keep the institute running despite low sponsorship and patronage inspired all of us. Patience and perseverance are the core attributes needed to achieve, no matter how miniscule the achievement might seem to others.

On the morning of 5^th, the students and I met at the Kothwal Chawdi market. We had decided to go with the feed alone. As this was our first venture of the kind, we were short of experience and also funds but definitely not short on enthusiasm and energy. We bought 200 kgs of Banana and 250 kgs of cucumber. A much needed helping hand was extended by my favoured autorickshaw driver who had accompanied us. The car and the autorickshaw were loaded and I sat amidst bananas all around me. I was thrilled.

The journey began. The car chugged along to keep pace with the loaded autorickshaw. It took us nearly two and half hour to reach the destination. As we entered the Goshala, we were welcomed by the moos of the cows. I came face to face with some cows and we ended up gazing at each other from a safe distance. Personally, I love animals however, I am in constant fear of being run over or being bitten. Effect of too many movies, I guess.

As we entered the Goshala we were introduced to Lakshmi who had given birth to her little calf couple of days back. The little one looked at us and then slowly went and hid herself behind her mother. As we surveyed the compound, we realized that there were more cows more than humans. I felt a strange bit of serenity in the silence and the occasional moo. It’s a feeling where words are inevitably inadequate and can only be felt.  

We began preparing the food we got for the cows (With using the word cows, it collectively refers to cows, oxen and calves – no gender bias intended). We were asked to peal the bananas and segregate them in to different containers. Next, we were instructed to cut the cucumbers in to smaller pieces. Once the feed was ready and segregated, food was ready to be served. We walked from one shed to another, from one cow to another and gave them one banana and a piece of cucumber each. Some of them were welcoming, but some were angry. I wonder if they wanted a different serving, something leafier maybe. As we were standing with the last container of the feed, we looked around. There were many other sheds where we had not stepped in. We looked at each other. We knew we had fallen short of the quantity. No one said anything. But, we knew the next time we would definitely have more volunteers, more funds and more feed. A smile slowly came in and we made that silent promise. The plan was executed.

I often tell my students; an idea can make all the change. One student came up to me and told me, an idea can only make the change when it is well executed. I don’t know if this plan that we did was well executed or not, but it definitely gave us the much-needed experience to do it better next time. With that thought in my mind I was looking for the others. One particular student turned out to be ardent dog-lover was with the dogs and puppies. He was feeding them biscuits which he had carried. Some were caressing cows and were talking to them. One calf was lazy and settled on a student lap and enjoying the attention. In a distance I saw another student of mine, who appeared to be in a deep conversation with the caretakers and managers of the Goshala. What was he talking about, I wondered? I was pleased. I think, it was an impactful lesson that was delivered. I thanked my profession too.

The softening sun reminded us to that all good things have to end and that it was time to go back. With a promise to come back we said our goodbyes. I went back to Lakshmi to meet her new born. She was still glued to her mother, like all of us are at all points in our lives. Adios new calf! What do I call you? Did they give you a name I asked? The naming ceremony was in process they said. And with that we ended Teacher’s day, the celebration of a learning and the celebration of perseverance. We will be back soon. We promised.