Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 That's a very interesting and telling account. Thanks for sharing your insights with us. your servant, Hare Krsna dasi Hrimati (dd) ACBSP (Mayapur - IN) wrote: >>Until we establish and demonstrate livelihoods that are based on protected >>ox dependency we still do not have a living alternative. Srila Prabhupada >>wants us to have a system of Cow protection that is not utopian but is >>practical. >> >>Cow Protection and its farming with oxen require the dynamics of vaisya >>drive to enable ox herdsmen to make a living from working oxen. >> >>Where are the business plans that demonstrate how a working man can >>maintain his family from working a team or teams of working oxen. These >>plans would be important contributions to the change of utopian cow >>protection ideals to practical cow protection. >> >> >> > >Living out here right by the rice fields in Mayapur, I get to watch one Muslim >fellow which, in a way, I admire very much. >His name is Tahir. >This man literally is dependent on his pair of oxen. > >Tahir has several plots of land, which he works with his oxen. On one large >portion of the Land he grows rice. All the way up to harvest time, he stays in >a little pump house and guards the patty. His son brings him his breakfast and >Lunch in a tiffin. > When it is time to harvest, he has some helpers. He does not pay them with >money, but gives them rice instead. the oxen will howl every thing (rice and >rice straw) home with their bullock cart. Some of he rice he sells and the rest >he keeps for the whole year to feed his family. The rice straw he keeps for his >oxen, It will last him all year. >On the other Land he grows wheat, jute, chickpeas, vegetables etc. Every thing >according to the season. Again, from the jute he will sell the fibre and the >sticks he keeps for roofing and making walls for his ox shed. The rest of the >sticks his wife will use for cooking. She packs them with the dung of the oxen. >Which, after they dry, will make an excellent fuel. >The wheat he also uses for making flour and sells only if he has excess. The >bran again will go for feeding his oxen. > >Now, Tahir does not have any milk cows. > Once I asked him what he will do when his oxen get too old to work. He said >that he will take care of them, because they took care of him all their lives. >Than I asked what he will do when he gets too old to work in the fields. Will >his son take over the work? "No" was his reply, " he is going to school and >getting an education. My son will not have to work this kind of hard work." >"And what will happen to your Land?" I asked again. > " We will probably sell it to ISKCON. At that time it will be worth a lot of >money." > >Now my question is, are we ready to this kind of work? Are we ready to work the >oxen as Tahir does? Tahir does not know how to read or write, but he can tell >you all about crops and oxen. He trained my Balarama. >The time we spend in front of the computer every day, we could be plowing a >field (or two). >If you want to do agriculture and cow protection, you need to get out there and >work and not be afraid of getting some cow dung stains on your dhoti (or sari). > >Anyway, just some meditation I wanted to share with you all. > >Hoping this will meet you in the very best of health by the grace of Krishna. > >Your humble servant, >Hrimati dasi > >Mayapur, India >Tel: +91-(3472)245714 >Please visit our Vaishnava family-friendly Web site >http://www.gopalsofttoys.net > >----------------------- >To from this mailing list, send an email to: >Cow-Owner (AT) pamho (DOT) net > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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