Bovine bliss

The Monday morning blues hits me with a consistent regularity and I have never been able to insulate myself despite my best efforts.

Owing to the excesses of a weekend that never seems to be enough, late nights invariably create a cascading effect. With excesses I mean, hours of cooking, loads of washing and binges of cleaning, merely to fulfil those very basic needs of Roti, Kapada aur Makaan.

Groggy and grouchy, as I weave my way through the rush hour traffic to punch in at the magical 9 am deadline, I am stopped by the red light at the signal. One hundred and twenty seconds seemed an interminable wait. The theory of relativity made sense now. Horns blare; autos squeeze in uncomfortably close to the brand new sedan ahead, while the man in the car beside mine grabbed a bite of his power breakfast.     
 
Bang in the middle of all this urban chaos, stands a cow, in what can only be described as bovine bliss. How I envied that calm, composed common cow. It was a philosophical moment of enlightenment for me.

 The simple truths of life hit me then. The cow too is an intelligent, useful animal of our land. From food to fodder, in life as much as in death, it serves humankind unequivocally. Perhaps it is for this reason, it has been bestowed with the divine status of ‘kamadhenu’. The metaphor ‘milk of human kindness derived from this very trait seems woefully inadequate when attributed to humankind. The cow gives unconditionally.

The other truth that hit me was, ‘What it earns it enjoys, without fear or favour. It chews its cud with such leisure and contentment. No multi-tasking, except for the swish of its tail to ward off the flying intruders. I envy this with all the frailty of my human mind.

The unfazed, benign expression speaks volumes. Equipped with a sound auditory faculty, it seldom reacts to the frenzy, frustration or foul language of those around. It delivers to potential without succumbing to the pressures of expectation and deadlines.

The ability to feel ‘at home’ in the middle of a busy street is the unique privilege of the bovine. It is never ‘lost’ but will instinctively head back home without feeling obligated to do so. Again unlike its canine counterpart, it has no territorial disputes and will live and let live. I think I now qualify to write a book on ‘Bovine wisdom for dummies’.