COWRONA

 COWRONA

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

18/IX/2022

 

            I get tyre pressure of my vehicles checked from a particular shop on the highway. One day, after trying everything in ‘his book,’ he could not find the ‘air leak’ in the rear tyre of my bike. He told me to visit again the next day to re-check.

 

            I missed two cows at different places enroute. ‘Near Misses’ of sorts. These animals darted out of the blue from across the divider. They have horns but they cannot blow them. It is so common these days, as scores of them roam all over the town causing traffic snarls or even injuring people and damaging parked vehicles during bull fights.

 

            A little short of the shop, there is a place where villagers sit with ‘Gai ka Chara.’ Cows and Bulls congregate, wait for people to buy fodder, and feed them. Some touch them for blessings as usual. A herd gathers for a feast around that spot. When, which cow would bolt, depends on their mood. It is now an accident spot. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

            A few days back, a truck knocked a calf grievously injured. It was left to die. Another cow sat in the middle of the road. A passing truck ran over its hind leg, crushing it to pulp. A pathetic site to watch. She kept limping around and died a few days later.

 

            At night cows with deep brown or black colour are the most dangerous creatures moving on roads here. If one is not careful, the obvious can happen. We have seen many mangled cars involved in fatal accidents being towed away. The injured/dead animal/s being carried with the same crane.

 

            Next day, the tyre pressure was correct. I gave him a ten rupee note. “Panch rupay nahi hain kya saab,” as that is the rate of filling air in motorcycles. I said, “rakh lo, fir le lunga.” That being his ‘first earning’ of the day, he put those ten bucks in a box with ‘Gau Daan,’ written. I felt so touched by his gesture. Here was a man, toiling hard to make two ends meet, has such a big heart to keep aside the ‘Bohnny’ amount for a benevolent cause. I took out another tenner and put it in that box.

 

            That was the time when I heard ‘Lumpy Pox’ disease was spreading like wildfire in this part of the country. One never had the time or inclination to ‘notice’ cows but then this was a real threat. People of our generation have seen people suffering from ‘Chechak’ or ‘Bari Mata,’ or Smallpox. We have also seen ‘pock marked’ people. This disease in cows appears to be akin to that.

 

            Blisters erupt all over the animal’s body. The animal feels itchy and scratches itself. Those blisters burst, causing a wound. ‘Flies’ do not waste a moment. With fever and infection this animal does not even know what has hit it. Loss of appetite and then inability to reach water, this animal gives up and dies.

 

            What hurt me was when I saw people being ‘picky.’ If two cows, at the fodder point approached this person, he would feed the one which was not diseased. The infected one was shooed away. Cows do not understand discrimination. Earlier people who used to touch them, now fold their hands from a distance and move on.

 

            A few days back we happened to visit a school in the nearby village. Such cows were roaming free in the school campus, as if they had come to study. On seeing us, a teacher told a student, Gai hakal ke aao’ (shoo the cow away). This was the time I saw a calf going through the suffering closely.

 

I pitied the child who made the sound like herdsmen make, when this diseased cow did not leave the veranda. She slapped its back repeatedly till it moved. When the calf halted after a few steps, this girl caught hold of its tail and twisted it. Off it ran, with the girl chasing it, till it was out of the school premises.

 

            Our Maid said that dead animals are becoming a menace. Stench of rotting flesh does not allow them to eat food in peace. People are dumping carcasses in vacant plots in the middle of the night. Only a few are digging a pit and burying them.

 

            I am not sure of the repercussions of this disease on humans. Is this disease transferable to humans? I am not sure. Animals suffering from this disease are now being left to fend on their own and walk away from many enclosures to safeguard other animals. The situation is pathetic.

 

I heard Lumpy disease has spread to seventeen states across India. Is it another COW-RONA disease? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND
© NOEL ELLIS