Culture Asia Style: Holy Cow, What Happens when One Dies?

To: Family or Friends

Date: Wednesday, August 6, 1:44:22 AM

Namaste (which is Hindi for Hello),

Well, this has been a question in my mind all week. What happens when one of the apparently ownerless cows dies? Does someone remove the corpse? Little did I realize that I would have the opportunity to find out so quickly.

Driving to work today, I saw a cow lying by the side of the road with a strange companion: a dog. I wasn't sure if the cow was just sleeping, but when I saw the dog standing over him, I had a pretty good idea that he was in a deep and irreversible sleep. We drove past him three times because you have to make a u-turn to get to the site and then drive down a frontage road. That is culture Asia style: no direct route-you have to drive back and forth to get into the call center. And the window by my desk is strategically placed so that I can see the cow.

So far, the dog has picked at it some, although it did not seem to be very successful in getting much meat from it. It almost seemed as if the hide was too tough. The dog finally ran away. As yet, I do not know what the final fate of this cow will be, but with a little patience and observation, I should find out what happens to the dead cow over the next few days or weeks.

I thought you might also be as curious as I was about what happens to these ownerless cows. It really seems like they are just wandering around in groups of 5-10 cows, and no one appears to own them. It is also interesting when they decide to lie down in the road. Usually, they don't lie in the center of the road, just in the center of the lane closest to the median. The cars just drive around them. The culture in Asia is very different from anything I’ve ever experienced.

Well, having fun and trying not to suck in too much pollution. If I breathe deeply when I am driving somewhere, the gag reflex kicks in because of the thick exhaust in the air. So I just have to take short little breaths all the way to work. I hope it rains again soon. Heck, this is supposed to be the monsoon season!

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