Temple Bulls and Melodious Koguls

There were quite a few bulls roaming and sniffing around freely in the villages. These bulls used to eat grass, crop, or vegetables from any ones’ plantation and even destroy flower beds or kitchen garden produce.  No one was complaining about the damage caused by these bulls because some of these bulls wearing kumkum belonged to temples or wealthy landlords or wore thick golden crosses or bells. On the contrary, some people were happy that if these bulls visited their yards or cow-sheds, this was considered as though God visited them and blessed them. Especially with a calf! These were special bulls donated to the temples they said, thus they could go about freely performing whatever they could with their muscles turning into bones.  Some cows wanted to meet them, but the other village bulls wanted to beat them to death, not just for beef alone. 

In the very old olden days there were bulls of various kinds.  Some landlord-bulls, used to bully the womenfolk, if the rent was not paid on time by the tenants.  Most of the men folk were out in coffee or arrack nut plantations up the hills, or working as copper or silver smiths beyond the hills or catching fish in deep sea not returning home for several days or weeks. These bulls used to round up the best of chickens, fruits or vegetables or coconuts if the tenants had no cash to pay for the rent. They even demanded certain sexual favors even in spite of paying rents duly.  Some women had no husbands around anyway. If the women denied they used to molest their children.  Some children, being unable to bear the insults caused on their mothers and the family or relatives, left homes and joined convents, became deva dasees, or started working as servant girls or hotel boys in Udupi hotels all the way in Mysore, Badravathi, Bangalore or Bombay.  Not all those who joined convents were being unable to afford dowry, or being unable to bear the shame for talking to tom, robby or nazareth! Some newly born children even looked just like these bulls. Such children were called “Children of Lesser God,” by some erudite ones.  Ghandi named them ‘Harijans’. Such high quality poetry or literature can be seen in educational text books today. These such children were mutilated, some were beaten up mostly by their own mothers constantly using brooms made of coconut heers or coconut leaf stems, beaten up or insulted by their own siblings, and even by school teachers and of course by school children, saying “You don’t look like your brother or father.”  So much so “Cry Baby” or “Rodkuro Pedru” became their first and last names.  Now tell me you readers, did these children have had any choice to come to this world this way? Did they have any choice to choose their relatives?  Why take it on the helpless children, while the culprits went Scot free? Why oh, you, the society, why? The abusive vocabulary used on these children cannot be put in writing.  Banana raw rinds, certain poisonous roots, fish bile, exposure to bibba plants or fruits, consuming raw papaya seeds, drinking cow’s urine, etc., were not potent enough to cause abortions or pre-mature death deliveries. Does anyone know the damage caused by these plant abortificants on the brains of the survived but unwanted children of these temple bulls?  Forget about the toxicity effects on the mothers. Some were born with cleft palate; some were born with one leg or hand shorter than the other, and some with permanent brain damage or deformed reproductive organs, to be raised as village idiots.   These very bulls bestow certificates, “Certified Stupid” using three cent printing paper.

Now you know what it actually means when they say, “The sins of the fathers fall on the children!”  It’s the children who have to bear and live with the consequences of these illegal or out of wedlock pleasures or abnormal sexual practices. I can see why Gonorrhea or AIDS was/is released by God to punish these sins. But it’s a pity the AIDS crosses the placental barrier, even to the unborn, apparently, absent minded God overlooked this side effect.  After all, the fruit represents the tree anyway.  Does anyone know the damage and anxiety caused by these temple bulls to the innocent children?   Some could not bear the humiliation caused to their mothers, sisters or to some known women and children.  Some children developed or displayed symptoms of various sorts such as inability to study, inability to get along with other school children or siblings, or even with elders.  If at all they could reach any work force, they could not keep their jobs, depression being the cause. Some of these children grew up to be non-productive ones, and were called ‘disgraceful ones, much below the standard of their siblings’, by the same or similar bulls! “Why don’t you get admitted in the psychiatric ward?”, was their best charitable advice.  Some victim’s children started drinking, smoking, drugs, and got into trouble with the law, thus ruined their own health and peace of others, and some died very young.   Yes, such was the menace caused by these temple bulls!   If only these bulls had no third horn!  If only they were castrated by a Simeon.  No one knew then what depression means.  Mental hospital was the answer, but why? What is the cause and effect?  I have heard some children say, “Mother, why didn’t you abort me? Mother I hate you, but don’t leave me.”  “Why don’t you kill me once for all, instead of killing me daily? Don’t your hands hurt while beating me? How stupid I must be to cooperate to stand still while you hit me left and right, Mom?  How could this make you happy mom?” Does the bull care? Did the bulls care?  Did any such mother care? Or will any bull care?  Who is there today to speak for them, help them, console them, accept them, or recognize them as children of real God?  Who is there to throw a fistful of mud to put closure to their life on this planet? If anyone tries they tell, “Do you know what happened to St. John the Baptist?” 

Nice to know that there no temple bulls any more.  Thank you, God. But we have real cuckoos in the real world.  Let the pictures speak for themselves: 

It’s up to you to believe, that the smart koguls lay their eggs not only in nests of crows of their size or shape, but in the little helpless fellows nests too.  See the size of this baby, three times larger than the bird that feeds it.  The over weight baby is larger than the nest which cannot withstand the little kogul’s weight.  Think about this folks.  This is how the animal kingdom works.   But God works in ways mysterious, or just obvious, by introducing that gentle hawk?  Go, figure! Justice will prevail.

Why People commit suicide? Why people die premature? Why people tell, “Motther drop dead, I will not even want to attend your funeral, if any?” 

Just see the size of the Kukku!  Is there a human kingdom?

-James Fernandes, USA