It was around 10 years ago when we used to own 20 cows. We worshipped Cow as sacred god in Hinduism. During my childhood, I used to spend significant amount of my time in cow-shed. I used to watch my grandpa milking cow and cutting hays for feeding cattle. My Grandfather made me to drink cow-urine and told me its importance. He said, “Gau mutra is natural sources of hormones and minerals and can cure kidney disorders, asthma, liver ailments and so on.” We used to sprinkle cow’s urine in the house everyday mornings to invite wealth and prosperity into the house as Cow appeases Goddess Laxmi and also believed it to kill all the bacteria and Negative vibes (Dasha). We Hindus consider cow very sacred, useful and vital for household purpose.

            I have rarely spent time with the cattle in this past 5 years. But I missed my cow very much. Since the start of lockdown, I spent significant time with cattles. Currently, we have only two cow but it is sufficient for our subsistence use. I used cow dung as fertilizer in my field while preparing field few months ago. Using cow dung is very common practice in Agriculture system in Nepal. We even have bio-gas facilitated due to cow-dung. As my grandparents and parents busy in other stuffs but we decided to keep two cows for home use. I am very fond of home-made ghee, curd and butter. We have named them Radha and Gokula. Radha is the mother whereas Gokula is the daughter. Gokula is going to give birth to calves very soon. I feel happy to spend time with them. Though I don’t know hand milking, but I will definitely learn it one day. But I have frequently prepared forage for them.

 Cows were first domesticated between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago from the aurochs (B. taurus primigenius), a wild species of cattle that once ranged across Eurasia. Cows are members of the order Artiodactyla. The order contains even-toed hoofed mammals, and cows have distinctive cloven hooves. Cows belong to the family Bovine (hollow-horned ruminants, which also includes antelope, sheep, and goats) and subfamily Bovinae (which includes buffaloes and spiral-horned antelope). There are around 1 billion Cows in the globe. Mature males weigh 450–1,800 kg and females weigh 360–1,100 kg. Cows are renowned for their large milk-producing (mammary) glands known as udders, which possess four teats (nipples). Cows are well adapted for grazing (feeding on grass), with a wide mouth and specialized teeth for eating tough vegetation.

Cows are used by humans in many other ways, such as a source of leather for clothing and other products and, albeit controversially, as participants in sporting events (e.g., bullfighting, bull riding, and rodeo events). Cows may also serve as a measure of wealth, and they are even worshipped as sacred animals in some religions. Cows are useful for obtaining dairy products such as Milk, curd, ghee, butter, cheese, etc. They have average life span of 10-12 years. Approximately, there are around 1 billion cows globally.