It so happened while I was returning from the Gita Discourse by Swamiji, I saw this cow lying on its sides, near the railway track. First I thought it could be rubbing its sides but then I saw it moving only its legs. I kept moving forward but something held me back. I took a U-turn and went besides it and waited near it, still on my two-wheeler. I hoped someone else to come so that we could together do the needful, but no one turned up. Many of them gave it a glance and walked away. Confused and feeling helpless I too turned back and left for home.
While riding my bike, I thought if only I could get number of any Animal Welfare organization, I can pass on this information. I reached home and then there are no marks for any right guesses. I “Google”-ed. I got a few numbers and saw two of them close by, with little knowledge of Bangalore that I have. The first one I tried was one Ramakrishna Goashram and since Goashram was meant for cows only I thought it should click. But no one picked the call.
The next number was of CUPA, but the number given on the site was wrong. I tried all 2 to 3 numbers given there but all failed. But then I saw something on a site which hinted me that I should try the same number but this time after prefixing it with a “2”. And to my surprise it worked. These are times when you feel the presence of HIM. And exactly this is what he said in Gita “sambhawaami yugay yugay” – he would take incarnations in our mind as and when so required.
But then no one responded to the first number and a lady picked the call when I tried the second number.
“Hi, is it CUPA office”
“No, this is a residence”
“I found this number on one of the websites”
“This is not CUPA office but a residence. I am a CUPA volunteer and you can tell me”
“I found a cow lying on roadside near to the railway track and since I could not find any help from anyone, searched the Internet and got your number”
“Ok, what has happened to it?”
“I don’t know might be it is hit by the train or any other vehicle. If it was hit by train probably it should have breath it’s last by now so may be it has some other issue”
“See, we have received another call from Koramangala, is it the same cow?”
“I do not think so as this incident is near Indiranagar, to be more precise near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”
“Ok, what’s your good name?”
“I am Venki here”
“See Venki, we have only one ambulance to pick injured animals and that is now somewhere in Koramangala. It is a pregnant cow which has got its forelegs fractured. So only once it returns and then, you see, if it has not died then we can immediately attend your case. So may be in the morning at about 6:30 – 7:00 you can go there, check and let us know if the cow is still alive and then give me a call back”
“6:30 – 7:00? Now the time is 8:30 in the night and you mean to say the cow would survive the 11 to 12 hours of pain. I do not think so, it should die by then.”
“But what to do Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore and Bangalore is a very big place to cover. We receive many incidents like this but then since we have limited infrastructure, you know, we may not be able to attend all cases.”
“But then…”
“Ok you do one thing. I will give you a number. It is the number of the reception of CUPA. You can speak to one Mr. Anil there and apprise him of the situation. Let us see what he has got to say and then we will proceed further. Give me a ring back and let me know what he has got to say”. There was an air of commanding in her voice but then I decided to keep that aside and work towards our common goal.
I rang the number she gave me.
“Hello, CUPA”
“Hi, I am Venki here and I would like to report about a cow which has been badly hit it seems.”
“Is it in Koramangala? Then our people are already there?”
“No, it is not in Koramangala. It is near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”
“What happened?”
“I really do not know. I saw it lying there and then rang you guys up for help”
“Is the owner of the cow there?”
“I do not know. I saw it, waited for some help, no one came and then I called you guys.”
“Ok Sir, we will call you back in five minutes”
I called up that lady and informed her about the same.
“Venki, please do give me a call and update the status when Anil calls you back”
“Ok”, I confirmed.
Anil called me up in 10 minutes
“Sir, we can go and pick the cow in another 30 mins. Can you please tell me the exact location?”
I was not aware by what name the road is called or even the place’s name. But I made an attempt by explaining the route I normally take
“See, when you come from Indiranagar 100 ft road and take a right you are in Old Madres Road, right? A few meters and then we can see a turn to the left, before we reach the turn to the 80 ft. road.”
“Yes Sir”
“And then you would see a railway cross. You should not cross it but take the left road which goes parallel to the track and then about half-a-kilometer ahead you would see another railway cross and the cow is lying there.”
“Sir, I am not much aware of that location”
“Ok, if you guys can come till Banaswadi Railway Station I can take you guys to that location”
“That would be nice sir. I will call you once the driver comes”
I called up that lady and updated her. She was happy
“See Venki, now you should think about becoming a volunteer of CUPA”
“Hey!! See, I do not want to make any commitment and then go back on it. I came across a situation and called you up guys.”
“No Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore. And we have very less local support or volunteer to help these poor animals.”
“I understand and would always be happy to help you. But before I commit, let us meet up in your office sometime and then we will decide”
“Ok.”
“Ok, I shall update you once the driver calls me”
“Thanks Venki”
I waited for sometime but there was no call. I was about to have my dinner when I got a call from CUPA office.
“Sir, it is about that hit cow issue. I am the driver speaking, where is the location”
I told him the route again but this guy knew the place very well and was also supporting me with the place name and road name. The road is supposed to be Jeevana Halli main road.
“Since you know the location, I think you can go on your own and pick the cow. But in case you face any difficulty in locating the cow, please call me. I shall come and show it to you.”
“Ok Sir.”
I thought all has ended well. But about an hour later I got a call
“Sir, we spotted the cow but the owner is not allowing taking it”
I was surprised. I never thought such an issue would arise and I was even more surprised what I could do in this matter when the owner himself is disagreeing. And here begins my personal degradation
“See, I have never been in such situation before and do not know what needs to be done. You can probably speak to your managers, get them involved and solve the issue”
“Ok sir, I shall call you back”
I called that lady and told her what happened
“See Venki, the owner wants the cow to die so that he can sell it for meat at ShivajiNagar or so. Can you go there and tell them that we have come with police aid and that the owner would be in trouble if he does not co-operate. Also I do not know kannada. If you could go and tell the owner”
“Even I do not know kannada, and frankly I have never been into this before. It would be nice if yourself or your managers can go there and take control of the situation”
She was furious
“Ok, so you do not want to go”
“No” I said in a lower tone filled with guilt
“Ok then, let me see what I can do else we have no option but to let the cow die”
“But please do update me the status, if possible”
“No Venki, it is not possible. We get numerous calls like this daily and then it is not possible to call each back and update the status. If you want you can call CUPA office tomorrow and ask for yourself”
“Thanks”
“Thanks and bye”
Frankly, I was really disturbed by this. I should have made one more attempt to help that cow but then something stopped me. I would not list any of the reasons that has happened in the background for all of them would be a mere excuse compared to the life of a poor creature.
I went to bed with my heart full of shame and guilt
Next morning, I called up CUPA and asked.
“Sir that owner did not let us take the cow and it seems it died”
It died or not, I died that moment. I have killed a cow!!! Hopefully next time I get a chance, I do not end up going to bed with shame and guilt.
I salute the selfless service given by CUPA for this cause. In this world, when man kills man and does not care for him, here are a lot of people who at 10 in the night go to pick an injured cow and help it recover. Hats Off!!! And let God Bless!!!
For those who would like to call up CUPA and help them in helping these poor animals; their number in Bangalore is 080-22947301.
While riding my bike, I thought if only I could get number of any Animal Welfare organization, I can pass on this information. I reached home and then there are no marks for any right guesses. I “Google”-ed. I got a few numbers and saw two of them close by, with little knowledge of Bangalore that I have. The first one I tried was one Ramakrishna Goashram and since Goashram was meant for cows only I thought it should click. But no one picked the call.
The next number was of CUPA, but the number given on the site was wrong. I tried all 2 to 3 numbers given there but all failed. But then I saw something on a site which hinted me that I should try the same number but this time after prefixing it with a “2”. And to my surprise it worked. These are times when you feel the presence of HIM. And exactly this is what he said in Gita “sambhawaami yugay yugay” – he would take incarnations in our mind as and when so required.
But then no one responded to the first number and a lady picked the call when I tried the second number.
“Hi, is it CUPA office”
“No, this is a residence”
“I found this number on one of the websites”
“This is not CUPA office but a residence. I am a CUPA volunteer and you can tell me”
“I found a cow lying on roadside near to the railway track and since I could not find any help from anyone, searched the Internet and got your number”
“Ok, what has happened to it?”
“I don’t know might be it is hit by the train or any other vehicle. If it was hit by train probably it should have breath it’s last by now so may be it has some other issue”
“See, we have received another call from Koramangala, is it the same cow?”
“I do not think so as this incident is near Indiranagar, to be more precise near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”
“Ok, what’s your good name?”
“I am Venki here”
“See Venki, we have only one ambulance to pick injured animals and that is now somewhere in Koramangala. It is a pregnant cow which has got its forelegs fractured. So only once it returns and then, you see, if it has not died then we can immediately attend your case. So may be in the morning at about 6:30 – 7:00 you can go there, check and let us know if the cow is still alive and then give me a call back”
“6:30 – 7:00? Now the time is 8:30 in the night and you mean to say the cow would survive the 11 to 12 hours of pain. I do not think so, it should die by then.”
“But what to do Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore and Bangalore is a very big place to cover. We receive many incidents like this but then since we have limited infrastructure, you know, we may not be able to attend all cases.”
“But then…”
“Ok you do one thing. I will give you a number. It is the number of the reception of CUPA. You can speak to one Mr. Anil there and apprise him of the situation. Let us see what he has got to say and then we will proceed further. Give me a ring back and let me know what he has got to say”. There was an air of commanding in her voice but then I decided to keep that aside and work towards our common goal.
I rang the number she gave me.
“Hello, CUPA”
“Hi, I am Venki here and I would like to report about a cow which has been badly hit it seems.”
“Is it in Koramangala? Then our people are already there?”
“No, it is not in Koramangala. It is near Bayapanahalli West Railway Cabin”
“What happened?”
“I really do not know. I saw it lying there and then rang you guys up for help”
“Is the owner of the cow there?”
“I do not know. I saw it, waited for some help, no one came and then I called you guys.”
“Ok Sir, we will call you back in five minutes”
I called up that lady and informed her about the same.
“Venki, please do give me a call and update the status when Anil calls you back”
“Ok”, I confirmed.
Anil called me up in 10 minutes
“Sir, we can go and pick the cow in another 30 mins. Can you please tell me the exact location?”
I was not aware by what name the road is called or even the place’s name. But I made an attempt by explaining the route I normally take
“See, when you come from Indiranagar 100 ft road and take a right you are in Old Madres Road, right? A few meters and then we can see a turn to the left, before we reach the turn to the 80 ft. road.”
“Yes Sir”
“And then you would see a railway cross. You should not cross it but take the left road which goes parallel to the track and then about half-a-kilometer ahead you would see another railway cross and the cow is lying there.”
“Sir, I am not much aware of that location”
“Ok, if you guys can come till Banaswadi Railway Station I can take you guys to that location”
“That would be nice sir. I will call you once the driver comes”
I called up that lady and updated her. She was happy
“See Venki, now you should think about becoming a volunteer of CUPA”
“Hey!! See, I do not want to make any commitment and then go back on it. I came across a situation and called you up guys.”
“No Venki, there are so many cases like this in Bangalore. And we have very less local support or volunteer to help these poor animals.”
“I understand and would always be happy to help you. But before I commit, let us meet up in your office sometime and then we will decide”
“Ok.”
“Ok, I shall update you once the driver calls me”
“Thanks Venki”
I waited for sometime but there was no call. I was about to have my dinner when I got a call from CUPA office.
“Sir, it is about that hit cow issue. I am the driver speaking, where is the location”
I told him the route again but this guy knew the place very well and was also supporting me with the place name and road name. The road is supposed to be Jeevana Halli main road.
“Since you know the location, I think you can go on your own and pick the cow. But in case you face any difficulty in locating the cow, please call me. I shall come and show it to you.”
“Ok Sir.”
I thought all has ended well. But about an hour later I got a call
“Sir, we spotted the cow but the owner is not allowing taking it”
I was surprised. I never thought such an issue would arise and I was even more surprised what I could do in this matter when the owner himself is disagreeing. And here begins my personal degradation
“See, I have never been in such situation before and do not know what needs to be done. You can probably speak to your managers, get them involved and solve the issue”
“Ok sir, I shall call you back”
I called that lady and told her what happened
“See Venki, the owner wants the cow to die so that he can sell it for meat at ShivajiNagar or so. Can you go there and tell them that we have come with police aid and that the owner would be in trouble if he does not co-operate. Also I do not know kannada. If you could go and tell the owner”
“Even I do not know kannada, and frankly I have never been into this before. It would be nice if yourself or your managers can go there and take control of the situation”
She was furious
“Ok, so you do not want to go”
“No” I said in a lower tone filled with guilt
“Ok then, let me see what I can do else we have no option but to let the cow die”
“But please do update me the status, if possible”
“No Venki, it is not possible. We get numerous calls like this daily and then it is not possible to call each back and update the status. If you want you can call CUPA office tomorrow and ask for yourself”
“Thanks”
“Thanks and bye”
Frankly, I was really disturbed by this. I should have made one more attempt to help that cow but then something stopped me. I would not list any of the reasons that has happened in the background for all of them would be a mere excuse compared to the life of a poor creature.
I went to bed with my heart full of shame and guilt
Next morning, I called up CUPA and asked.
“Sir that owner did not let us take the cow and it seems it died”
It died or not, I died that moment. I have killed a cow!!! Hopefully next time I get a chance, I do not end up going to bed with shame and guilt.
I salute the selfless service given by CUPA for this cause. In this world, when man kills man and does not care for him, here are a lot of people who at 10 in the night go to pick an injured cow and help it recover. Hats Off!!! And let God Bless!!!
For those who would like to call up CUPA and help them in helping these poor animals; their number in Bangalore is 080-22947301.
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