In India, cows are considered to be sacred be-ings and intelligent pets.
In the city of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, cows are left to wander free, adding to the population of over 3 million… Casually meandering through the streets in pairs of 2 or 3, (reminding me of window shoppers!) or laying down in the road -calmly observing the chaos of traffic flowing around them. Are these communal cows I pondered? No, I was told! Cows are pets, they know their homes and return home at night where they are fed.
There is a cow in Varanasi that lives in a shop, he goes outside to pee, our guide proudly cited this example as another reason that cows are intelligent.
While in the narrow streets, a bull meandered up to our group and wanted to pass; with its horns it caringly and gently nudged a member of our group out of the way, so he could pass by….
What IF cows were intelligent?? I certainly have seen other ways of viewing reality, seen a side of things here that leaves me to wonder. When allowed to be beings, they ARE intelligent be-ings, as we permit, so they are. If we treat them like animals, so be it. Animals are saints, if we see this side in their nature. However it is the animal nature we most often choose to see.
