Comments on: Do you want to be a cowboy in Delhi?

By: Leon Morenas

Leon Morenas — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:32:23 +0000

Its normally the bulls that are left to roam the streets. Even if you see cows on the roads, they are not left on the streets at night.

By: Frederick Peemoeller

Frederick Peemoeller — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:23:27 +0000

I would of never thought that there were 40000 cows in just New Dehli! I am intrigued to know how many of them are still lactating, or if most of them are discarded because of their age and lack of milk. If there are still some cows that can produce milk, I wonder how often random people will get under one for a quick swig of fresh creamy milk. I guess it would be like a portable water fountain, minus the water.

Just thought I would also add another product that comes from a cow, Cow Cola. This cola comes from cow URINE and is supposedly healthy, but still has some issues since it goes bad quickly in the summer months. Here’s the site:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4592608/India-makes-cola-from-cow-urine.html

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:15:53 +0000

Catherine,
I was also intrigued by the use of leather. I wasn’t sure if wearing leather was a problem for us when visiting India, but when we talked of appropriate dress, it wasn’t mentioned. That’s when I started looking into the subject of cows. What I found was that the slaughter of old cows for leather is done by the “un-touchables” those of low caste. Interestingly enough, it’s also known that they eat the beef as well… I guess it’s like the don’t ask - don’t tell policy in the US military.

By: Catherine Kristensen

Catherine Kristensen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:50:30 +0000

This was a great explanation of India’s history with cows. The analysis of the cow as an asset with each attribute associated with a task/value was very interesting as well. I never knew butter was burned to create light!

I am also intrigued by the fact that Delhi has so many urban cowboys responsible for the mass quantity of urban cows. The NYT article conjures up images of Spanish bullfighters and Texas rodeo clowns - though the description of the angry Hindus criticizing their cow-herding behavior and the “Milk Mafia” perhaps leaves me more frightful!

I must say that I was somewhat surprised that this post did not discuss the topic of leather. In my India research, I have read about camel-hide leather products from India as well as buffalo-hide products, but (foolishly) assumed that Indian leather did not come from cows. I recently learned that India is one of the world’s biggest leather producers, a fact that seems to contradict the country’s “holy cow” mantra. PETA’s website discusses India’s horrific leather industry and mentions that cows are sometimes “skinned and dismembered while still conscious.”
http://www.petaindia.com/feat/f-leathertrade.asp

I can’t help but be confused by the paradox that exists in this country - how can India ban the slaughter of cows throughout most of the country, yet also be criticized for their slaughter practices?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:58:50 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/world/asia/21iht-delhi.3.17138254.html