There roamed a bull in Shirdi that was dedicated
to Lord Shiva. This bull caused havoc of the village gardens and fields. It
grazed wherever it felt like. The villagers met together and decided to send it
to Yeola Pinjrapoli (asylum for old beasts).
Funds were raised and the job of taking the bull to Yeola was entrusted
to Bikku Marwadi. Bikku set out with the bull, but he did not go to Pinjrapole,
but sold the bull to a butcher for Rs.14/-. Upon returning, he informed the
villagers that the bull was left at the Panjrapoli. That night Baba appeared in
the dream of Bayaji Bayaji Kote Kote and said, "You are enjoying
sound sleep having left Me in the butcher's hand?" The next day
Bayaji informed the villagers of his dream and it was decided that he go to
Yeola and rescue the bull. He went straight to the Pinjrapoli but the bull was
not found there. So he headed right away to the butchers lane and made a
diligent search there. He found
the bull with the butcher. He requested the butcher to return the bull and told
him the whole story. The butcher however, was unwilling to return the bull as
he had bought it for Rs. 14/- from Bikku. Bayaji then gave him the money and
took the bull to safe haven. He returned to Shirdi and told the villagers of
his actions. They were quite upset over Bikku's breach of trust, so they
prosecuted Bikku who had to spend two months in jail.
Source Ambrosia in Shirdi by Vinni Chitluriji
Drought in Anantapur compels farmers to sell their animals
Sad plight:An emaciated cow which found no buyers is left to fend for
itself by its owner in Anantapur.— Photo: V.K. RAKESH REDDY
Masam Innaiah from Gundala village in Guntakal mandal of
Anantapur district, tries in vain to stop his tears as he sold his oxen
to a slaughter house.
“I called them Pedda Krishna
and Chinna Krishna. They were like my children for the past seven years.
But as I cannot afford to feed my family, so I had to eventually sold
them,” Innaiah said, adding that he had tried to sell it to another
farmer.
Innaiah had to sell them as they could barely
walk, let alone help him on his farm work. Though Innaiah could not
afford a tractor, he could not use the oxen as well. Eventually, he sold
them at Anantapur market yard to a Bangalore-based slaughter house.
As
his oxen refuse to be pulled into the truck, Innaiah bursts out and
says in a feeble voice, “They probably know that I had sold them to
their death.” His sorrow cannot be expressed in words.
This
is the story of not just Innaiah but of many farmers who were forced to
sell their animals to slaughter houses, severing their long
relationships with them, out of compulsion to buy a new pair. Every week
more than 20 trucks, each of them carrying 15 pairs of animals,
totalling to a staggering 300 cattle are sold to slaughterhouses in
Bangalore to produce 12,000 kg of beef for upmarket.
With
Anantapur facing severe drought year-after-year for the last three
years and rain playing truant not even leaving a blade of grass on the
hills even for goats and sheep, farmers were left with no opportunity
but to sell them.
And selling them to other farmers
is only possible when the cattle are strong, at least strong enough to
do a little farm work. Else, they would have to be sold to the slaughter
houses to offset a little of the total price of buying a new pair of
oxen.
While the government on one side is promoting
dairy as an alternative source of livelihood in the district with quite a
few success stories, such stories could not be replicated in areas
where there is little or no groundwater.
courtesy;
The Hindu
ANANTAPUR,
April 27, 2012
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