21 February 2014

Bulls Of Bharata

We regularly come across the term O Bull of Bharata varsha while reading our epics, vedas and other material on ancient India. 

Generally used to address a king, warrior or someone with power, this term took on special significance as we learnt about prize bulls of present day India featured at the Progressive Punjab Agriculture Summit 2014 that just ended in Mohali.

Raju, a Murrah bull, has been valued at Rs 10 crores. His daily diet consists of 10 litres of milk, 3 kilos of curd and 10 kilos of feed. His regimen also includes a 6-km walk. 

Another bull named Yuvraj, with a Rs.2 crore price tag,  sleeps in an air-conditioned room. His daily diet includes 20 litres of milk, a bottle of country liquor, 5 kilos of apples and 5 kilos of feed.

Whether he would do better with the quaintly named "Indian Made Foreign Liquor", single malt, rum, brandy or rye is now open to debate.

Samuel Johnson once said that oats is “a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” Now someone has to come up with something similar regarding bulls and liquor.

Then there is Aalishaan, a horse which is pampered with shampoo baths regularly. What makes it special is not the shampoo but the fact that the horse's owner turned down a Chief Minister who offered Rs. 1.25 crores for it. The owner spends about Rs. 1000 a day on Aalishan.

This news came about the same time Mckinsey reported that to achieve a "modest standard of living" an individual needed Rs 1336 per month to fulfill his/her basic needs for food, energy, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health care, education and social security. The poverty line prescribed by the government is around Rs 870 per month per person.

According to the report 56% of the population lacks the means to meet essential needs as consumption level falls below Rs 1,336 per person per month or almost Rs 6,700 per month for a family of five. 

This translates to 680 million people whose consumption levels across both rural and urban area of the country fall short of this mark. 

In short it would have been better to have kine than kin.

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