The quality of the milk depends on the cow from which it is drawn. The protein, vitamin and fat contents will change according to the feed of the cow. Many purchase milk for some purpose or other. There is no guarantee that full benefit will result. If the cow from which it is drawn is poorly and inadequately fed and maintained, the milk have only the name and the quality will be poor. There are starved cows and stingy cowherds.
The feed that is given to the cow in the towns is too unsightly for description. Day in and day out there is the luxurious straw that too of the trampled variety generally dumped into the dustbin in other places! Even water is a scarcity. That also has to be paid for. Oil cakes will safely remain in the oil-mongers shop only. Cotton seeds who takes the trouble to grind this every day? Fortunately there is some essence which man in his fashion throws away, the bran washing; this comes in a way useful for the animal to survive. The cow-herd cannot afford to give bran itself in quantity. The eternal complaint is that it is an ever ascending price.
A quiet, nice beast
Fed under such charitable and liberal circumstances one wonders what type of protein the milk of this cow would possess! The inquisitive humanitarian who visits the cow shed will get very curious replies for his questions. “Sir, Fools deal out cotton seed and cake. They do not know how to rear the animal! They will wake up when the stomach complaints catch the beast due to such wrong feed!” This will be the display of solicitude by a stingy fellow. Another sophisticated variety will blink his eyes and cry out in pious admiration “Oh sir, my cow, what a quiet nice beast! she will just go on milking with a just little feed of straw! It needs little else!”
This fellow’s cow is such a nice beast it appears! will not ask any extras! But will go on raining milk! This hypocrite’s grinning sophistry and praise of the cow could be matched only in the story narrated below.
The lady of Poverty
Once upon a time there seems to have adorned our family during its ancient history a nice old lady. A great famine was ravaging the land from end to end. It used to be familiarly known as ‘Dhatu year’s famine’. Even rich families could command only broken rice conji and little else. This lady had two sons. Let us call them Krishnan and Govindhan.
Day long wanderings would have fetched some rice porridge or conji. The poor lady with very great show of solicitude would call out as if inviting to a royal dinner “My darling Krishna will you eat?” This Krishna lived only in his stomach! Famine, anger, and abuse had no greater terrors than the complaint of the stomach itself! Promotly will he sally forth and say “Yes Mother!” Then the irrate lady will expound in return “Come you rascal, fill thy filthy belly!” She had hoped against hope that discretion and famine will weigh with this darling, and bring out a reply of ‘Not Hungry; Ma!’
Then she will turn to her other child and in a more wheedling tone capable of drawing milk from stone call out “Do you child, come for eating!” Govindan the high termpered boy got never deceived by this drawl. He knew what the famine pot was. Prompt will come his reply “Not hungry, Mother Dear!” The Lady will then go into ecstacies over this child ornament of discretion, and croon and sing” My darling, my pearl, then nicely go to sleep!”
Poisonous secretion of cow
The praise of the starved beast by the owner can be compared to the praise of this old dame of her second starving son. The beast is too starved to show any spirit or mettle. This old lady at least was distressed by famine. But what is the difficulty with this milkman. With him it is miserliness, pure and simple. This man’s cruelty lies not only in feeding the animal. One can see its horrors even in its treatment. The quality of the milk is spoilt by the ill treatment of the cow. There are the learned who declare that when the mind of the cow goes into agonising spasmas due to the maltreatment and cruelty, poison is produced and squeezed out with the milk!
It is a daily scene, the cheating of the cow by the milk-man. Nature produces milk in the cow for the sake of its calf. Allowing the cow to smell its calf, he pinches out of the udder the last drop of milk available and sells it away. The calf starved out of its mother’s milk dies very quickly. The milk-man does not hesitate. He skins the dead thing, stuffs the hollow with hay, places it before the cow, and while the dumb beast licks its dead child and streams out its tears, the man pilfers the milk.
This rascality is horrible to witness. He dreams that he has cheated the cow and got his measure of the precious liquid! The cow with its powerful instinct is not at all deceived. It looks at the skin of its child. It does not stop its affectionate licking. But all the same does not cease to give to the ungrateful beast of a man, its milk in memory of the child now no more, but with all the heart-burn of helpless agony! This cruelty results in poisonous secretion in the system of the animal and that drains out along with the milk. There need be no doubt about this. Knowing the sin and unwholesome nature our elders have prohibited the purchase and use of such milk got through pain and self-decipt.
Cattle Grazing
There is such a thing talked of as ‘Grazing’ the cows. Usually in small towns and villages, the cowherd will enter each house, unleash the cow, drive the animals in herds out into grassy plains, at the outskirts or beyond the town. There the cattle will graze on the sunlit, sun-nourished fresh young grass, wander about, run and frolic. With the slanting rays of the setting sun, with the bells tinkling and heads swaying in joyous rhythm, these cows will return in herds.
To the kindly and the imaginative, this blessed sight would raise a picture of the Divine mother of the world pleased and content. These intelligent cows with high instincts would feel ready on reaching home to pour out their milk like the bubbling streamlet down the hills, in grateful acknowledgement of the tender protection, for the health and prosperity of its master and his family!
This type of grazing secures for the animal and its owner who drinks its milk, many enviable benefits. The cow gets its walk and movement in sunlight and fresh air. The life is not maintained on dried straw dust. Fresh green sprouts and leaves are eaten by the animals. These in their green and fresh unplucked condition are rich in vitamins, iron, calcium, etc. The milk of the cows feeding on these contains a high percentage of these elements most essential for human health and growth. The sunlight enables the cow to ward off diseases and increase the vitamin content.
Lack of Grazing and ill healthy cow
In big cities, there are no facilities and possibilities for such outings and grazing, if by any chance these cows are taken out by the cowherds, they make them wander and suffer on rocks in the terrific heat of day, and send these back home tired and parched with thirst and leaner for this pseudo-grazing! There are other owners. The daily walk for this beast is its wandering from the shed to the milking place. The place where these remain tethered, will defy description, will be hellpitted, dingy and evil smelling! All laws of health would be defiled here. At least sixty percent of such cows, contract diseases and pass them on with the milk to the citizens.
Everyday the cow should be fed extra with the oil cake, bran or the cotton seed or with each one of these at different parts of the day. From such a feed only milk has to enrich itself with protein, fat, etc. The milk of the cows fed with mere straw, will just resemble water, coloured white. In contrast these we can watch the cows brought up in rich valleys and grassy swards of mountain slopes. Fed on the fresh greens and sprouts and creepers, the milk of such cows will be thick with fat and protein and will stick heavily on the dipped finger. The taste will be very fine and the smell will be healthy and fresh.
Health depends on milk. The quality of the milk invariably is dependent on the food and the maintenance of the cow.