Cowabunga

I apologize in advance for some of the shaky photography in this post.  Most of these pictures were taken through a dirty window from a moving bus.

So here's your riddle for the day:

Why did the cow cross the road?

Answer:  Because he can.  Ain't no one gonna stop him.  Cows are large and in charge in India.  Their holy status gives them entitlement.  They pretty much go where they want, when they want and no one tries to stop them.  

Cows want to cross the road?  Let them.  

Cows want to stroll down the center of the street?  Let them.

An entire herd of cows decides to create a traffic jam on a major highway?  Let them.

Cows want to hang out in the middle of the street?  Let them.

Cows are a fact of life in India.  You see them everywhere.  And strangely enough, you see them in much higher numbers in the city than you do in the country.  And they are always in the street.  Most streets have a raised concrete strip down the center that divides the directions of traffic.  You always see cows hanging out on that strip.

Our tour guide KD told us why the cows love to be in this middle strip.  Studies have shown that the cows do this because they are actually addicted to the gasoline fumes.  Yep, that's right.  India has looped-up cows wandering the streets, high on gasoline fumes.  Which I guess explains why it is that cows are just ambling along, stepping right out into oncoming traffic without a care in the world or batting a bovine eyelash at the screech of brakes and the blaring of horns.  Nope, no worries for them.    Not even a sideways glance.  They just go strolling along their merry gasoline-intoxicated way, oblivious to the havoc they have just caused.  And no one would dream of running into a cow.  Hindus believe that being a cow is just one step away from being reincarnated as a human in your next life, so killing a cow is major bad karma.  Much better to cause a ten-car pile-up than to hit a cow.  If I had a nickel for every time our bus driver has had to slam on the breaks and/or swerve sharply to avoid taking out a cow, I could pay for my next trip.  And if I had a nickel for every cow we've seen in and around the road, I'd be a rich woman.  And we've only been in India for a week.  Cowabunga, dude!