Cattle Scuttle: The Changing Rural Scene

Cattle Scuttle: The Changing Rural Scene
- Dr. S.S.Rana

On January 14 every year people in most parts of north India celebrate the festival of Makarasankranti. The occasion marks the positioning of the Sun moving into the next zodiac sign of Makara from the previous zodiac sign of Dhanu in the twelvefold division of the horizon round a year Viz. Mesha, Vishabha, Mithuna, Karkata, Singha, Kanya, Tula, Vrishchika, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Meena. The special features of the festival have been the mandatary cold bath by all members f the family, feasting on cooked fine rice mixed with Shakkar topped by liberal dose of Ghee and the last but not the least includes offering of green or dry fodder to the animals. Each householder contributes his mite towards a common pile of the fodder spread all over the outskirts of his village to be devoured at will by the cattle. Birds and other creatures also receive their share of grains. In a way the scuttle (fodder container) of the domestic animals did not remain empty at any hour of the day. The festival thus serves as an occasion for thanksgiving symbolizing paying off the debt to the Bhutas.
The above scenario is no more universally noticed even in rural areas these days, what to speak of the city scene in which featuring of cattle is not countenanced! It is a different matter that the bovine population reared by some original inhabitants of the cities stubbornly sticks around in spite of the spiting stick of the municipal wardens and the irritated motorists honking no ends trying to scuttle the cows peacefully sqating in the middle of the road are often seen making a detour to take their course further. But the rural scene has under gone a sea change. Pursuit of progress through development has not deterred us from vandalising the forestlands, reducing area of water bodies and grazing lands (charagah) and conserving wastelands. Mechanised farming, rapid means of transportation, preference for machine specific technology and a desire to ape urban life style have all contributed in a natural way. to the shrinkage in animal population and their neglect. Though no owner of any cattle would willfully allow his possessions to deplete for want of care, we find the old world scene missing today.
Animal husbandry serving as a complement of the agricultural economy of our country is the concern of not many in the rural areas today. The cattle wealth is more or less a dried resource. The parameters essential for its growth are missing. Spread of education has brought about several disconnects- the foremost being the distancing of the young generation from the cattle world. Children of the parents belonging to the farming communities having migrated to the cities stand at a great disadvantage in comparison to the earlier generations in the matter of life experience. Not long ago one could see several large herds of cattle in a single village. Grazing the cattle in the reserved grassy plots amid green crop fields without any damage to them was a management feat to be emulated. The animals on their part did extremely well in understanding and obeying the command administered in a signal language of their caretakers.
Among the cattle bullocks took the top position as far as diet and care was concerned. They were the mainstay of the village economy. A pair of bullocks in the family served almost all needs of power, be it ploughing the fields, pulling the multipurpose cart, drawing water from wells by various technologies like the persian wheel (rahat) or the pulley and for operation of several machines like sugarcane crushers, seed crushers for obtaining oil, grinding mill and fodder making machine. The bullocks were rested once in a month on the new moon day (amavasya). Special attention was paid to their cleanliness and hygiene. They had their skin daily scrubed and brushed for removal of dust from their bodies, eyes wiped with a piece of cloth. They were kept free from the menace of parasitic worms (chichad and kalil) by patient plucking. Their urine was held in specially made contraption of an earthen pot fixed to a Y shaped long wooden pole (otana). Their dropping, as soon it fell from their behind was removed with the help of a specially designed wooden shovel (phavada). The farmer did not mind getting up even in the mid of night to perform such jobs. During winter their stead was made as cosy as possible by laying a thick carpet of millet husk (boomle) and rubbish of begasse (khohi). Specially designed quilt coats were hung on their backs to protect them from extreme cold. Some times fancy silken or ornamental cotton coats adorned the bullocks harnessed in lightweight cart (rehroo) on occasions like a marriage procession or a joyride to a fair. Old and useless cattle were not assigned to asylums (goshalas) but were given proper care which they amply deserved after silently and faithfully working for their owners for many years. However, there was always a distinction made between the gentle ‘holy’ cow and the quarrelsome and treacherous buffalo. No doubt the same buffalo with the passage of time dethroned the gentle cow from its high pedestal obviously for economic reasons. The patronage of the cow shrank to be limited to some poor households or to the quarters of the very affluent who kept it as a special animal to yield milk for the children. The farmers usually took advantage of the bright fortnights of summer months to harness their bullocks for various operations at night, thus saving the animals from the heat of scorching sun. Beating of oxen was not seen favourably by the community and anybody indulging in such an act was frowned upon.
Deepaavali time was a celebration for the cattle also, especially the bullocks, which were laid off from work. People fondly decorated them by stamping their back and flanks with marks of orange coloured solution (of agru or geru) and by hanging around their necks ornamental necklaces (gaandalies) made from strips of stalks of peacock feathers artistically woven around a string with bunches of multi coloured cloth waste procured from the obliging village tailor. To make things more musical tallies (jingle bells) of conical shape, bunches of ghungroos (round hollow balls of brass with a slit at the bottom and a bead of iron placed inside) and chaurasis (about two inches wide leather bands with several-normally four- strings of small bells fixed thereon) were also tied around their neck. The bullocks indeed deserved such attention and pampering. The female specie of the cattle was decorated with patias (necklaces made from stems of peacock feathers) and ghantaalies. Some people fondly painted the horns of their cows red. The jingle bells in their case were cylindrical as different from those meant for bullocks which were made of brass in conical shape. The holiness of the cow, the giver of the progeny and milk has been justifiably celebrated since time immemorial in our country and has been a swear word among the rural communities. Govardhana(cattle wealth) or Gobardhana (cow dung wealth) Puja was a pointer to the usefulness of the cattle But alas! the cow is a much neglected cattle today. The buffalo which superseded the cow as a milch cattle is itself on the wane of its one time prominence. The machine age has led to the decrease in the utility of the cattle power and hence to its neglect. There were times when the number of cows in the village ran into several hundred. Every neighbourhood of the village required the services of a cowherd called paali ((ox) to be called as Dhaanda in the evening of its life. The bullocks of each household did not fail to receive their respective names. The names were based on either colour (dhaula, leela, laakha etc.) or after some peculiarity of a part of the body ( seengla, bheenda, jhoonga, khoonda, laanda, teekala etc.). There were cases, though rare, of aggressive bullocks which were kept tied when not harnessed to a plough or a cart. Such cattle were handled only by senior members of the family carrying a stick in hand as a warning to the animal against any menace. The buffalo stock too had its classification. It was kaatadi at very early stage. As a grown up adolescent it took the label of katia and passing through the state of a Jhotadi graduated into a jhoti (buffalo heifer) ready to mate for the propagation of her specie and gradually landed into the mainstream class of bhains or mhains(> mahish>mahishi of Sanskrit). In old age it was given the name of kholan to finally earn the sobriquet of dhaank, not a flattering one. A roondhi (having acutely curly horns close to either temple) buffalo was considered better than the bheendi (with its horns hanging downwards, each forming a simple curl at the end) one. The normal yield of milk from a buffalo was about ten kilograms per day (milched twice). In exceptional cases it could be more than twelve kilograms with a yield of nearly 8oo grams of ghee (clarified butter). A buffalo would be classified as Baakhadi when it yielded very little milk (which, of course, had greater fat content.


The members of the potter’s community reared donkeys, which served the needs of their occupation best i.e. transporting large volumes of good earth excavated from specially identified spots in the outskirts of the village for the purpose of making pottery. It was less costly to maintain donkeys. They were beasts of burden and could tread on precarious paths where carts could not be easily taken. Clods of earth extracted from the beds of dried ponds were better brought out by employing the services of donkeys. They could also be used to carry small quantities of load for which a cart would not be economical or desirable. They could ply equally well on all kinds of track or even on rugged passages. Sometimes stories were heard of enterprising businessmen hiring donkeys for the purpose of smuggling grain or other prohibited wares across the countryside avoiding normal roads or tracks to dodge the intercepting officials posted at the checking posts on the state borders.
Among the harijans the chamars reared cows or buffalos depending on their financial position. In most cases they took responsibility of rearing a female calf (katia) of some farmer against fifty percent share of the value realized from the sale or repatriation on turning a milk-giving cattle. They also shouldered the responsibility for disposal of the dead cattle earning in bonus the right of skinning them and making hides for footwear. The carcasses fell to the lot of the ever vigilant eagles descending from the high sky.

The household cattle received a fair share of care and attention of their masters for the reason of their vital role in the economy. Proper arrangements for animal fodder were invariably made in time and appropriate supplementary diet was given wherever required. Green fodder was kept at hand as far as possible throughout the year. Dry fodder was made delectable by moistening and adding a dose of gram flour or a solution of khali (the remnant of mustard seeds after taking out oil). During the sowing season bullocks received additional diet containing lots of fat administered down their throat through a naal. Slabs of saindhava salt were kept in the fodder trays for the bullocks to enable them to make up for the loss of salt and water through perspiration during intensive cultivation in summer. They were taken to the water bodies as frequently as required for quenching their thirst. The buffalos were bathed and cleaned followed by a sumptuous splash in the village pond normally twice a day. In summer time the buffalos lingered on submerged in the pond water for hours with their necks afloat intermittently for breathing. A milk giving buffalo received the supplementary diet in the form of boiled cotton-seeds and grams mixed in the fodder. Such diet went to increase the fat content in the milk that they yielded. All young boys of a family associated themselves with the activities connected with the rearing and keeping of cattle. Students, whenever free from school shared the responsibility of fetching loads of animal fodder (bharota) from the fields and participated in the process of cutting the same into small bits through the manually operated hexing machine. Rainy season offered a bonus in the form of green grass (loonjha) ready for use as animal fodder, especially for the buffalos. One could see armies of females returning from green pastures carrying heaps of grass on their heads. Tomorrow’s children will, perhaps be made conversant with all this through pictures or miniature models in museums. The scuttle is getting empty and the cattle stand scuttled in this machine age.