Last month a dead calf was found next to the property of a British embassy employee in Kathmandu. Witnesses stated they had seen a few neighbors from a nearby village feeding the calf on several occasions, sometimes even covering it up at night with straw and thin blankets. Nobody knew where the calf’s mother was, nor am I told did anybody care. This calf was left to die, plain and simple. And why? Because it was a male.
Of course all cows in Nepal are considered holy, and male or not, you don’t want the possible reincarnation of the savior dying in your backyard. However, people are also aware that there are practicalities and biological realities to consider when caring for animals. You can’t slaughter cows here in Nepal, so what do you do with a male calf which might seem as useless to some here as salt on a jalapeno? You starve it to death. Of course, people don’t let logic impede them from what is clearly a murderous act. Let it die on its own. If it couldn’t survive, then it wasn’t meant to. Funny. Maybe we should just let our next babies run around and fend for themselves.
Oddly enough, they have been known to do that too, only this time with the opposite sex. People are so bent on having baby boys (must be a nasty habit picked up from the Chinese neighbors), that they will go out of their way to get rid of the newborn baby girl in any way they can. This is why certain medical products are not available here. The Intelligender Test? You know the one that can supposedly determine the gender of your baby with a simple first morning piss after three months? Can’t sell those here, even though there is undoubtedly a market for it. And if they did sell those here, you would have not only the highest abortion rate ever recorded in a single nation, but also a plethora of newly patented abortion methods.
Funny how culture works at times. You wish with all of your heart that your offspring is male, but a male calf, arguably the creature with the highest stature of the Hindi universe, is simply not worth keeping.
Here’s another biological fact along with a wild theory I’d like to throw out there: don’t you actually need males to reproduce? I am not a Hindi, but I also have yet to meet one person in this country who has witnessed a virgin birth of any calf. You will find people here who will swear up and down that they have seen UFO’s, the second coming of Elvis in the Himalayas, or the Easter Bunny before that happens.
Ditto with baby girls. If everyone were to have a boy, you would have precious few wedding ceremonies, unless the Supreme Court gets busy and allows gay marriages.
Male: good as a baby. Bad as a calf.
Of course all cows in Nepal are considered holy, and male or not, you don’t want the possible reincarnation of the savior dying in your backyard. However, people are also aware that there are practicalities and biological realities to consider when caring for animals. You can’t slaughter cows here in Nepal, so what do you do with a male calf which might seem as useless to some here as salt on a jalapeno? You starve it to death. Of course, people don’t let logic impede them from what is clearly a murderous act. Let it die on its own. If it couldn’t survive, then it wasn’t meant to. Funny. Maybe we should just let our next babies run around and fend for themselves.
Oddly enough, they have been known to do that too, only this time with the opposite sex. People are so bent on having baby boys (must be a nasty habit picked up from the Chinese neighbors), that they will go out of their way to get rid of the newborn baby girl in any way they can. This is why certain medical products are not available here. The Intelligender Test? You know the one that can supposedly determine the gender of your baby with a simple first morning piss after three months? Can’t sell those here, even though there is undoubtedly a market for it. And if they did sell those here, you would have not only the highest abortion rate ever recorded in a single nation, but also a plethora of newly patented abortion methods.
Funny how culture works at times. You wish with all of your heart that your offspring is male, but a male calf, arguably the creature with the highest stature of the Hindi universe, is simply not worth keeping.
Here’s another biological fact along with a wild theory I’d like to throw out there: don’t you actually need males to reproduce? I am not a Hindi, but I also have yet to meet one person in this country who has witnessed a virgin birth of any calf. You will find people here who will swear up and down that they have seen UFO’s, the second coming of Elvis in the Himalayas, or the Easter Bunny before that happens.
Ditto with baby girls. If everyone were to have a boy, you would have precious few wedding ceremonies, unless the Supreme Court gets busy and allows gay marriages.
Male: good as a baby. Bad as a calf.
0 comments