Bovine Angst

When I used to go to college, the OMR used to be THE Bovine Hangout. Middle of the road, pavement, sitting, standing, calves, bulls, cows, buffalos, you name it and we will have a variety there. Travelling down that road used to be a crazy experience. We could never be sure when a playful calf would end his life under the college bus tires.

Then at last an injunction was passed and all four legged creatures other than pets were banned within the city. Which means most of the bovines were moved out of the city.

Having given you the history, it annoyed me when I saw the strip in Tintin in Tibet, about the huge traffic jam in an Indian road, caused coz no one wanted to shoo the sacred cow which was blocking the traffic. But it really pissed me off when I saw something quite similar in Delhi – 6 movie. (Not that the movie was anything to write home about, but still it was taken by an Indian, for God’s sake!)

With that out! Every morning on the way to office, on this really busy road, I see a cow standing right at the center of the road. Everyday for about an hour, it calmly stands amidst the heavy traffic flowing around it, and no one bothers to shoo it.
I have often wondered why that is so.

Then I came to conclusion that most of these people are like me… Not blindly superstitious, just Lazy! :-)

Hey! We Indians are a superstitious lot, and we love our superstitions (Good, bad or ugly). But I do wish, people would not stick their explanations to our way of life.