Not so Holy Cow

One of the reason because I decided to come to India was that this is the home-land of vegetarianism.
There are millions of vegetarians in India, and the Indian cooking is mostly vegetarian, so I decided to use this month as my "trial period" of vegetarianism, to see how my body and my thoughts reacted to this changement.
Consequently, I have been thinking about this topic a lot in these days.

Like everyone else, I was fascinated by the "myth" of the Holy Cow, that in India is supposed to be revered by Hindus as a sacred animal...
Also, I expected people here to have a different attitude towards animals, due to the massive presence of vegetarians here.

After three weeks in this country, though, I realised that it's not so linear as it seems.
India is the land of contradictions, and the attitude towards animals isn't an exception.

Yesterday, for example, we were driving on a road in West Tamil Nadu, and we saw a crowd of people preciously dressed.
We stopped and as we looked a little more, we saw many stalls with porks hanging dismembered and covered in blood.

This view became even more disgusting when we saw a big quiet pig being dragged by four cruel looking guys, surrounded by dozens of excited others, and by some women that poured flowers on the floor, and other men playing drums.

They explained us that this was a tribal celebration, contemplating animal sacrifice.

A few years ago the Hindus wanted to forbidden this practices, but the tribal people took it as a threat to their credences, and refused.
This view was very shocking for me, particulary looking at the cruel stare of the executioners.

As a contrast with this episode, I recalled the memory of the workshop on veganism that my brand new friend Jamey took in Sadhana Forest, starting by the idea of AHIMSA: the pursuit of a life non violence, central in every Yoga practice.

In a vegan life-style AHIMSA can be spelled as follow (quotation from Jamey):

Abstinence from animal product
Harmless with reverence for life
Integrity of Thought, world and actions
Mastery over oneself
Service to humanity, nature and compassion
Advancement of understanding and truth.

This is the life that I really would like to practice, doing the very best that I can (I will be vegetarian, but not vegan, I'm afraid).

But in India there is more then animal sacrifice, talking about animal treatment.

For instance, there's the issue of the treatement of animal products to be sell in the Western market.

First of all, one must remember that India is a poor country. 800 million of people here are poor. The rich people are 10 milions (1% of the total population), and they alone are able to make India one of the laregest consumer luxury market in the world.
But still, in many aspects, Indian economy depends on Western demand.

And one of the most request Indian product abroad is leather. Leather shoes, bags, and boots.
India is the world largest exporter of leather.

But, as the cow is "Holy", killing of cows is banned in all States except two.
Still, Western demand of leather leads to illegal leather trade in India.

It is forbidden to bring cows across State borders, but the traders bribe officials to look on the other side while they pass with veicles packed with suffocating cows.
Other thousands of cows are made to walk forcefully, without food or water, to cross the state border and be killed into the Slaughterhouses.

Once there, they are dismembered whilst still conscious, and in full view of one another.

One could ask: what am I suppose to do to prevent this to happen? I live very far away from there.

This is a fake answer: I am part of the world, I am not an individual, I am connected to every person in the world.
The way I spend my money is very important.
We, Westerns, have the most powerful mean to stop this inhuman treatment: boycotting Indian leather and leather in itself, and stop wearing the skin of dismembered animals.

India and the lost power of the mystical union

When I arrived in Kerala I was sure that I wanted to experience the full body Ayurvedic massage with herbal massage oil. I wanted to do it in the evening, but, with my disappointment, I was told that the evening is reserved only for gents (men), and that ladies can do it only in the morning or afternoon. I started thinking about the women situation in India, and started to think about the ancient Hindu culture compared with the contemporary India.

In contemporary India people live a total segregation between men and women. Everywhere there are separate lines for Ladies, even at the security check at the airport, there is a private lounge room for ladies and mother feeding in every station, and if you enter a bus or ferry you will notice that the women gather together to the ladies seats, while the men stay on the other side, watching them from the distance.

Teresa, my new friend, talked a little about this subject with the 24 years old Hindu masseuse that was giving her this massage in a Ayurvedic Hospital. She was cute and cheery, but her English wasn’t so clear. Anyway, she first asked her why she had this little dot at the edge of the forehead. She answered that that symbol indicated that she was a married woman. She was married since one month, so Teresa asked her how she met her husband. She said that she put a “broom call” in the local daily newspaper. Discussing it with me, Teresa wondered how it was possible that a cute young girl had to do something like that to find a man willing to marry her. I claimed that it was due to the segregation of sexes and to the overpopulation as well. There isn’t an easy way to meet a man in India, a part of being introduced to him by your parents, or putting and advice in the newspaper, unless you are a student and you go to the Secondary School or to University.

Teresa also asked her what does she prefer about her man. She answered: he doesn’t drink. Teresa and me both agreed that this isn’t really a quality, but the absence of a vice. Maybe she was only looking for a man that wouldn’t hit her when he was drunk. Quite sad, if you think about it. She was totally not demanding, she was only happy to don’t have to deal with a drunken husband.

That is really different from the original idea of relationship between men and women, showed in the ancient legends and epics of Hindu religion, like the Bhagavatha Purana. I have seen a scene taken from this poem in the Dutch Palace in Fort Cochin. Really hidden in the lady’s room downstairs there’s an ancient Hindu fresco, representing the Sri Krishna’s Maha Raasa: the Raasa of the God Krishna, that is the great dance of mystical union with Krishna.

The story tells that when the blue skinned, six handed God Krishna arrives in the forest, he starts to play his flute, making all the girls of the surrounding villages restless. They cannot sleep, they wake up and together run to join Krishna, and to play with him the Raasa, the dance of mystical union.

As you can see above, the beautiful tempera painting represents Sri Krishna surrounded by 17 Gopikas (milkmaids) in different postures of adulation and love. Krishna is laying down, and he is using two of his six hands to play the flute, and he is smiling sweetly. With another hand he is holding a girl’s chin, making her smile in tenderness. With another right hand he is holding a Gopika from the neck, while she is hanging herself on him, kissing him and looking at him in blissful devotion and surrender. Then with the left hand Krishna is holding the nipple of a big booped Gopika with two fingers, giving her pleasure, while with the other left hand he is giving pleasure to the goni of another half naked Gopika. He is doing the same with is feet, with two different Gpikas, smiling in overwhelming pleasure for the attention of the God.

The most interesting fact is that in the painting his six hands represent the idea that Krishna is duplicating himself to give to every single woman the pleasure that she deserves, to make her feel like she alone is enjoying the whole attentions of the God. Krishna really cared for the women.

Women’s pleasure was his goal, instead of his own pleasure.

Sure enough, the painting was highly protected from the possibility to take pictures by two ladies that really annoyed us, making us showing our pictures to makes sure that we hadn’t taken any photos of the fresco (we did a short video, instead).

I think there is a political meaning in not allowing pictures or postcards of this beautiful fresco, sacred and sexual at the same time. Maha Raasa has a really revolutionary message: it is a supreme celebration of divinity and love, one which is only attainable by breaking away from all social norms and bondages. The Raasa is a surrender to supreme love, to the highest calls of devotion and to ultimate freedom – a return to primal innocence where love reigns alone.

I wonder where all the love and freedom is gone in contemporary sex-phobic India.