Cattle trade

Mahatma gandhi once said " The future of india is intrinsically connected with the future of its villages".

As a TRUE indian,Last Sunday, I went to a village near kanchipuram. The village was hosting a weekly shandy. I came to know that village was known for "buying" cattle in "bulk". The "breeds" from all over the state and neighbhoring states were found. To my surprise, I had spotted two-three "foreign breeds" too.

The local breeds were looking frail and weak whereas other breeds were robust. A government vet said " our breeds were reeling under prolong summer the other breeds were just out of monsoon that's why they look robust".

The way in which they negotiated in "purchasing" cattle was a unique way. The buyer and seller came together (the meeting was facilitated by a "broker" ultimately, he gets a cut from the sale proceeds). The broker would place a turkey towel (before which both buyer and seller held one another hands together) on their hands of the buyer and seller . It is a non-verbal communication once the "deal" is okayed the buyer caould take away the cattle.

The buyer would "inspect" the cow by pulling its teeth (i.e.to check the "age" of the animal)
Predominatly, the buyers were "interested" in buying cows without calves. the reason being that the calves maintenance were considered as a wasteful expenditure.

Out of every five bovines sold, one happened to be a male bovine. These male bovines were huge in demand during "mating season". During that season, the maintenance of bull cast upon cow's owner. The nourishment and medical expenses would be borne by the cow's pwner.The other days these bulls were used for farming purposes.