The sacred cow of India is an interesting phenomenon. Just like in the movies cows really are allowed to go anywhere! They stop traffic and even trains. This amuses me so much I plan to start a Cows of India flickr album. So far we have a cow sleeping in a parking spot in a car park, Cow at the Beach, Cow waiting for Train and Cow in Bin.

I’m holding out for the Cow enters a Bar photo…. great start to a photographical joke.

The cow, apparently, was chosen as a symbol for all living things that require nurturing and protection. As such it’s the idea rather than the actual cow that is to be revered. This comes through into everyday life. Whilst they don’t touch the cows to move them they do everything else possible including blasting them with the car horn. I was hoping for a little more reverence.

It also doesn’t seem to extend past cows. Whether through culture or experience they are exceedingly scared of monkeys and stray dogs. So much so that they prematurely take to scaring them away or even attempting to injure them without any visible cause except that they are nearby. The amount of cute homeless dogs is hard enough to stomach without people being mean to them. Unfortunately it seems the symbol of the sacred cow is becoming more and more a dogma.