Holy cow! Bovine's visits to Andhra store boosts biz

Shop number 27 at the textile complex in Mydukur (Kadapa District) is special. If you go there to purchase clothes, you have to share the space with a white cow.

Just like any other traditional cloth shop in South India, the mattress on the floor of the shop is shared by a very docile and cool cow that minds its business while the shop owner shows you the varieties at his store.

It all started happening during a hot summer. The cow chose the Sairam cloth showroom and just walked in as if it knew the shop for a long time. It then sat down under the fan in front of panic-stricken buyers. While the shop owner, Polimera Obayya, tried to push it out, it simply ignored him and his staff. It sat there for two to three hours and left on its own. The scene repeated every single day during the past six months, except on days when the shop is closed.

“It comes every day and sits under the fan. But if we shut off the fan, it simply walks away. It has never troubled any customer, urinated or soiled the white mattress that covers the floor. It relieves itself only after leaving the store,” Obayya says.

Obayya has realised that the cow can be his mascot as there are over 50 similar kinds of clothing stores in the textile complex. “Initially, people hesitated to come inside, but now everyone enquires about the ‘Cow Shop’,” he said.

Women prefer to visit the Sairam showroom and they bring turmeric, vermillion and bananas to offer to the cow, which is considered to be very auspicious for Hindus.

“Women customers offer prayers to the cow and feed bananas all the while selecting clothes,” Obayya says. He has realised that his business has quadrupled after the white cow set foot in his otherwise lackluster shop.