Holy cow

As you're probably aware, cows in India have a revered status and it is very bad to harm or kill a cow. The result is that cows are free to roam the streets of most Indian villages, towns and cities (although the big ones like Delhi and Mumbai seem to have far fewer of them). However, when you see these cows in the cities feeding on rubbish, especially cardboard, paper and, most harmfully, plastic bags, you have to wonder if it's really a good thing to give cows free reign. Surely cows and other bovine animals deserve to live out in the countryside, eating grass and other natural items. I don't think it makes any sense to have them live in the cities. It's bad for the cows and it's bad for the humans who have to deal with all the cow patties, which is obviously not a good thing health wise. I'm not here to tell any society what to do, but surely the current situation with cows in India just doesn't make sense for either side.

By the way, if you've ever been tempted to "run with the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain - don't bother. Just come to India instead! After walking through various Indian towns, I feel that I've "run" with enough bovines to last me a lifetime. I think we also forgot to mention earlier about Karen getting headbutted by a cow. We were walking down the street in Pushkar minding our own business and well over a meter away from the cow when the cow decided to come over and headbutt Karen in the arm! Fortunately it wasn't too hard. The rumor is that cows are somehow attracted to henna and Karen had just had henna put on her arm that morning. So, beware when getting henna where there are cows about!