Opinion The Express View on ‘Cow Hug Day’: Spare a thought for an overworked mother

It’s not as though the Bos taurus didn’t have enough symbolic weight on her shoulders. She is, according to the Centre’s Animal Welfare Board, “the backbone of Indian culture and rural economy (sic)”. In fact “Kamdhenu” and “Gaumata” — these are among the many terms of endearment — “sustains our life, represent cattle wealth and biodiversity”. Now, imagine the plight of the poor cow. After a hard day of grazing, holding up “Vedic traditions” and being a real and symbolic mother across species, she is accosted by hordes seeking to extract more “emotional richness” and “individual and collective happiness”. What no one is asking is this: Has anyone asked the cow?

The Animal Welfare Board’s “appeal” asking people to celebrate February 14 — perhaps not coincidentally, Valentine’s Day, the day marked out for marketing love — as Cow Hug Day does not suffer from a logistics problem. A day before the notice was issued, the Uttar Pradesh government announced the creation of a cow sanctuary, a pilot project to house stray cattle. And proposals for “cow safaris” have cropped up now and then over the last few years. A cow safari can be an exciting experience for those with great imaginations, even though for others, it might bring up traumatic memories of traffic jams. Getting off and hugging the animals, then, may be a way to boost these endeavours as well.

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Like so many mothers, real and symbolic, must the cow quietly take on these several burdens — emotional, economic, social and even civilisational — with no “me time”? It’s unlikely to be pleasant, being hugged and smothered by strangers. Perhaps the greatest gift the tired, overworked and overused animal can receive is a break from needy kids.