Essay on the Cow

The cow is one of the most useful domestic animals. It is found almost everywhere in the world. It has a large body, four legs, two horns, two big eyes and a long tail with a tuft of hair, which it uses to drive away flies. Cows are of many colours and breeds. The cow eats grass, straw, oil cake and grain, and chews the cud for hours. It gives us milk, which is a complete food for children. From milk we get curd, butter, ghee, paneer and sweets. Cow dung is used as manure in the fields, as fuel and for making biogas. Bullocks plough the fields and pull carts in villages. The cow is gentle and harmless. In India it is lovingly called "gau mata".

Among all the animals that live with human beings, the cow has a special place. It has been a companion of farmers for thousands of years, and in India it is treated almost as a member of the family.

The cow is a four-footed domestic animal. It has a heavy body, a long face, two horns, two large gentle eyes and two ears. Its long tail ends in a brush of hair that works like a fly whisk. Its hooves are split in two. Cows may be white, black, brown, red or spotted. India has many native breeds, such as Sahiwal, Gir and Tharparkar.

The cow is a plant-eater. It eats green grass, hay, straw, husk, oil cake and grain. It first swallows its food quickly and later brings it back to the mouth to chew it slowly. This is called chewing the cud. A cow needs clean water, a dry shed and regular care to stay healthy. Its young one is called a calf, and it is a pretty sight to see a calf jumping about its mother.

The chief gift of the cow is milk. Cow's milk is light and nourishing, and doctors advise it for children and for the sick. Milk gives us curd, buttermilk, butter, ghee, cream, paneer and khoya, from which hundreds of Indian sweets are made. Dairy farming gives a living to a very large number of families in our villages.

The cow is useful in other ways too. Cow dung is an excellent natural manure. Dried dung cakes are burnt as fuel, and dung is used in biogas plants to produce cooking gas. In villages, floors and courtyards are still plastered with it. Bullocks, the male of the family, plough fields, draw water and pull carts, though tractors are now replacing them.

The cow is calm and patient by nature. It recognises its owner and answers to its name. Because it nourishes us with its milk like a mother, people in India call it "gau mata" and many worship it.

It is sad to see cows wandering on roads and eating plastic from garbage heaps. Those who keep cows must look after them even when they stop giving milk. An animal that gives us so much deserves our care and kindness.