Hindus and beef: What’s the beef?
As an Indian and a Hindu living in the United States for over thirteen years, I am often asked why I don’t eat beef. At a barbecue or a work lunch, I’d consciously avoid items which contain beef, something others would notice and then connect to another question, often asked in a suggestively stereotypical manner.
Why do you guys worship cows?
I am not religious. My primary reason for not consuming beef is my inability to digest it. I have accidentally eaten it a couple of times and have had digestive issues (imagined or otherwise). I grew up a vegetarian. If not my inherited religious compass, my liver lets me know I should go easy on meat of any kind.
Yes, there is a fairly wide beef ban in India. However, there are notable exceptions in northeastern States, Kerala, the popular tourist destination Goa and a few others where beef consumption is a part of culture. Furthermore, the beef ban only pertains to cattle slaughter. ‘Beef’ sourced from buffalo meat continues to largely be available.
Yes, the cow is considered a sacred being in Hinduism and other Indic religions.
Yes, some have unfortunately (and, wrongly, I’d emphasize) been killed if suspected or confirmed to be stealing cows or in possession of beef in their vehicles or homes. Groups who call themselves gau rakshaks (‘cow protectors’) have taken the law into their hands. Even if some Hindus silently support their actions, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, who many ill-informedly call a ‘Hindu fundamentalist’, has strongly condemned cow protectors who resort to violence.
None of these explanations or nuances, however, resonate with people in the West. That they don’t relate to the holy status accorded to the cow in Hinduism can’t be a grievance. Moreover, in m experience, it doesn’t help to draw a boundary by telling them that this is our religion which they should just accept.
Many comedians, television shows and movies have poked fun about it (“In India, traffic stops for no one except a cow”). Cynics often point out how, in India, the life of a cow trumps the life of a human.
Notwithstanding nuances in regard to the beef ban or a clear condemnation of those who take the law in their hands, the general perception is that, in India, you cannot eat beef and you could be killed if you do.
When faced with these stereotypes, an effective way I have deployed over the years is to ask them to imagine the following dishes in Indian restaurants:
Golden Retriever Tikka Masala — $11.99
Tandoori Chihuahua — $15.99
Siamese Cat Masala Fry — $21.99
Saag Goldfish — $29.99
I, then, ask them to imagine that the dishes being offered are made from the meat of their pets, willfully stolen or made to sell under duress or coercion.
Sounds far-fetched? Unfortunately, this is often the reality in India, especially rural India. When grazing or returning back home from the fields, cows are stolen away from owners and sold off to meat processing units. At times, the owners are brutally assaulted or killed.
Wait a minute! Is cow a pet?
I am, then, asked. A cow is not only a ‘pet’ providing benefits like a service dog does, although the nature of benefits is different (a cow provides milk, cow dung is a source of cooking fuel, its manure is an effective fertilizer in Indian agriculture), it ends up being an integral part of a rural Indian’s family.
We often see descriptions like ‘dog mom’ and ‘fur dad’ used by adults who consider their pets to be a part of their family. Pets are given the same last name as the owners. Why, then, is it difficult to see an Indian as a ‘cow dad’ or ‘cow sister’?
Okay, but why worship the cow? Indeed, an average Indian regards a cow as his/her mother. Why?
To understand this, one has to understand the gratitude that is omnipresent in the average religious Indian’s psyche. Hindus worship several Gods and Goddesses. For example, Hindus have a God of Wind, a Goddess of Wealth, a Goddess of Knowledge, a Sun God and so on. A popular exercise in the practice of yoga is called surya namaskar (Sun Salutation). Why?
That the sun is the source of life is a plain scientific fact to a rationalist or an atheist. A Hindu, in addition, is grateful to the sun. Hence, he salutes it, worships it. Similar to how he worships wind, wealth, knowledge and so on. For the benefits a cow provides (relative to other animals), Hindus are immensely grateful to the cow. Hence, they worship the cow.
Individual cow ownership has largely become uncommon in urban India, predominantly due to the advent of large-scale dairy farms and the spatial limitations brought by rapid urbanization. Still, however, when many Indians see a cow walking on the streets, they offer the cow food made for the family, often bowing to the cow in reverence.
When traffic comes to a halt in an otherwise chaotic and busy nation which doesn’t like to wait (just look at how infamous we are with our queuing discipline) because a cow is in the middle of the road, the reason is, simply, gratitude ingrained within us over generations.
The purpose of this write-up isn’t to discourage beef consumption. By all means, enjoy your steak. By all means, enjoy beef when you visit India provided it is legal to do so. By all means, continue with the jokes about cows and Hindus. We have reached an alarming level of fragility in regard to even innocent jokes about each other’s cultures and races.
All I ask is that, if the viral video of a dog being brewed in a boiler at a Chinese eatery shook your conscience, if the thought of a dish Tandoori Chihuahua repels you, you can at least empathize with, and not treat with disdain, an average Hindu’s discomfort in regard to eating or even ‘trying’ beef.
