Saturday, July 29, 2006

A tussle with a cow

From the Boondoggle blog. Posted 5/16/2005
The "cow menace" has really gone beyond being a menace in New Delhi nowadays. I was witness to one such event of "Cow Rage" (all phrases in quotes were coined and used by TOI, not me).

The sole motive of the cow seemed to be to try and insert its horn through the metallic shell of the car (much like a fork through an omelet), and the sole motive of the car's driver was to get as far away from the cow as possible. When such clashes of strong-minded (and possibly fat-headed) individuals take place, there is bound to be a heated argument and an exchange of words..
But this wasn't the case this time. The driver was cursing the cow in all languages known to him, but the cow was either very thick-skinned or just wasn't concerned. It went about its work in a manner which would've put business-oriented Europeans to shame.
All were having a merry time, when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, six burly "jaat" cops, equipped with lathis and ropes emerged and dispersed the crowd. The cow was more obstinate and refused to budge.
The exalted leader of the "jaat" cops shouted to the cow "Key karan lagra hai?" (What are you doing?)
The cow, unfortunately, didn't understand and remained quiet on the issue (maybe it didnt wish to hurt diplomatic sentiments). This infuriated the exalted leader of the "jaat" cops, who after glancing at his lathi proceeded to place the lathi underneath the cow, and then pushed upwards.
To this the cow replied with a loud grunt and moved away, much to the disappointment of the now dispersed (but still expectant) crowd.
The thing fizzled out without much action, but it could've led to something serious. The point I'm trying to make is this: Why doesn't the highly incompetent MCD do something about this?
Something must be done to avoid a clash of interests and avert impending disaster.