Last Sunday, my classmates and I embarked upon a little tour of a village near my institute. This was part of our course work for Rural Marketing. We were required to spend a day with the village folk in order to catch a glimpse of their lifestyle. In the process, I met a lot of four legged fellows. But the one that took my heart away was a calf named Soni.
I have seen a number of cows, bulls and their calves in my life, and some from very close quarters, but never has any bovine offspring caught my attention the way this one did. He was not only the smallest calf that I had ever seen but also the most beautiful. As I continued to gaze at him, he turned 24 hours old.
Soni's mother was away, his father was working in the farm, and he was all by himself in the shed. I wondered how he must be feeling? Just a day into this world and he was left all alone. He could stand on his feet and walk around right from the time he was born. Can we even imagine this in case of human babies? In retrospect, I wish I could read his thoughts. Did he miss his mother? What did he think of all the people around him? What did he understand of what was happening around?
Going back, in the excitement of the moment I could not resist petting him. He was so petite I could almost carry him in my arms, though I did not. He had fleece like fur, and was quite literally as white as snow with little brown spots; a lot like baby Bambi with the exact contrast colour combination. I had never before touched a cow or it's child. I had had my own apprehensions, and in the next few minutes those apprehensions were about to vanish in thin air. A little hesitantly, I stroked his back. He seemed scared initially, but calmed down after a few strokes. I too got comfortable, and cuddled him playfully. I had merrily forgotten that we were there with some work at hand and could have sat there all day. But that was not to be. With the indignation of a child I left the shed unwillingly. I stroked his beautiful face one last time and went on.
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