In my few short weeks in India I have constantly been comparing what I see and experience here to the ‘norm’ I know in South America. There are so many similarities between India and Ecuador. The streets of Ongole look so familiar- food venders, small shops that sell..everything but what you are looking for, lots of people, motorcycles, dusty roads, dogs, smoke rising from burning trash piles and the smell of..well, all of that put together (plus Indian spices, yum!). The one thing that I can just not get used to seeing here, however, are...get ready for it...the holy cows! Cows leisurely roam the street, laying under bridges, confronting traffic and pretty much just hanging out. They are often adorned with chalk flowers drawn onto their skin or ribbons.
One of the Hindu gods is a White Cow, and while I have yet to see the people here bow down and worship these street cows, they are most definitely revered. Cow products would never be found in Ongole, and even in bigger cities, all beef, milk and other dairy come from Buffalos. In Man on Earth John Reader wrote: “Hindu theology says 86 reincarnations are needed to transform the soul of a devil into the soul of a cow. One more, and the soul takes on a human form, but killing a cow sends the soul all the way back to the form a devil again...The priests say to look after a cow is in itself a form of worship. People..put them in special sanctuaries when they are too old or sick to be kept at home. At the moment of death, devout Hindus themselves are anxious to hold the tail of a cow, in the belief that the animal will guide them safely to the next life.”
When that becomes normal, I’ll know that theres no going back...
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