Shoba Narayan

This was a very surprising book to me, and I am so glad a read it. It is, in a word, about cows. Cows, it turns out, are a far more complex topic than I, as a westerner who group up with them could have imagined.

I am so delighted to learn more about Indian culture, especially how modern India is transforming into a massively urban culture and how they are holding on to rural roots and to religious values. The cow rescue compound was an eye-opening concept to me. The idea of walking a cow around in a living space to bless it with droppings (even if this living space is an apartment in a brand new building) is amazing. The many interesting medical properties of cow products (not all milk, my darlings, not by a long shot) are fascinating, and the writer does a marvelous job bringing outsiders in.… (meer)

If you were completely meh about cows, you will worship them after this joyously true story. After many years in the US, the author, a native of Karnataka in South India, returns to her homeland with her husband and children. Although the family lives in a modern housing development, across the street is an urban dairy farm and author Shoba becomes great friends with Sarala, the woman of the title, and also becomes intimately involved with Sarala's sons and cows. Each chapter is like a glittering gem of cultural knowledge, wisdom, and silliness - for example, the advantages of desi (native) cows vs Holstein-Fresians is examined within the context of the taste and properties of their milk and their urine (yes). The overall look into the lives of the South Indian servant class, and how intensely troubled Shoba is by the vast trench between the classes and castes, is especially vividly told: "The pain of India, at least for me, has been to learn to deal with the inequalities of life that I see between my family and the people who help us in our house. For me, being surrounded by people whose means are drastically different from mine opens up a Pandora's box of guilt."

The stories here are equal parts amusing and troubling. It's a fine introduction to an area that few US tourists will see because there's no Taj Mahal around.… (meer)