Seeing a cow (and I use that as a generic term for bovines, male and female)  making its way through traffic is a startling sight. Perhaps not so startling to Indians who see this every day, but to me not a customary sight and I continue to find it bizarre and interesting. So, I follow cows looking for the perfect photo opportunity. By now, I should know that the opportunity rarely arises while following the cow. Rather, when they sneak up on you or are spotted in a doorway or fighting the motorbikes.

These cows are peaceful, even a bit lazy, sifting through the trash for food or lolling against the fence in the middle of a busy thruway. Nothing disturbs them, not car horns, bus near-misses, tourists with cameras. Just doing their thing whenever and wherever they please.

Cows in India compete with the dogs for the best trash finds. Garbage is ubiquitous in India so there is no shortage of piles for searching. There is usually something edible for everyone. The lucky few live in Mysore where the night market garbage is piled in one spot and, after the market closes, doors are opened wide for the cows to enter and feast on fresh fruits and vegetable.

Life is not always good for the cow in India. The city cows scavenge for their food and tend toward the scrawny. The country ones may get food, but labor long hours and carry heavy loads.  Some of the cows have owners, others fend for themselves. One is hardly distinguishable from the other except, perhaps, those with owners have a place to go at night. Mostly, they just plop down wherever they are and traffic, foot and car, goes around them. It gives new meaning to the term “free range.”

Do not hurt a cow in India! While “holy” is a questionable description, they are a symbol of life, a giver of life, respected if not worshiped, never eaten and great care is taken to do them no harm. Doing so can result in a jail sentence.  There is a holy cow, actually a bull, the god, Nandi, mount of Shiva, who frequently guards temples and, many believe, grants wishes especially on the fertility front, but that does not make every cow a god. However, they are often bedecked with garlands of flowers, painted horns, and colored dyes and they definitely have the right of way.

Would it be better to be a cow in Switzerland, where cows roam the hillsides in the incredibly fresh air nibbling the grass and with a place to go at night? Maybe.  Then again, the Swiss eat beef.