Mother Cow, Mother India: A Multispecies Politics of Dairy in India by Yamini Narayanan. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2023.

Reviewed by Muhammed EK, University of Hyderabad, India

The veneration of cows as a mother of the nation has been at the forefront of Indian political imagination. This politically administered sacramental status of cows obfuscates the pertinent reality of the dairy industry and meat export in India. Broadly interested in unpacking the human-animal tapestries, Yamini Narayanan diligently demonstrates this contradictory performance of Indian cow protectionism and the realities of the dairy industry in the recently published book, Mother Cow and Mother India (Stanford 2023). The ethnographic accounts, consisting of 12 states, conducted between 2014-17, are testimony to her unwavering commitment to closely observing and analyzing the animal geographies of contemporary India. Organized into 8 chapters along with a comprehensive introduction, the book navigates through the production, protection, and consumption formulas of bovine bodies, suggesting a post-dairy future that is steeped in vegan lifestyle and aspiration.

The first chapter discusses the seamless continuum of milk and beef economy. The cow, after being ‘spent’ in the dairy process, is reckoned as a burden and tactically transported to slaughterhouses. It is very much evident from the fact that India is one of the highest beef exporting countries in the world. “There is no beef economy without milk economy” (p.184). Problematizing the hyper-politicization of meat, Narayanan shows that dairying has been perceived as an innocent act that does not carry any impingement on animal rights and lives. The hierarchical arrangement based on purity and pollution that informed the caste system in India for a long time has been transposed to the animal world. While developmental nationalism encouraged foreign breeds such as Jersey and Holstein to escalate productivity, only desi (local) cows are venerated as Mother of India, thereby creating and activating a bovine caste system. It is startling to learn from the ethnographic conversation that many devotees do not consider the foreign breed even as cow and do not allow them to mix with desis. The discriminatory attitude between the buffalo portrayed as a symbol of the devil and the cow as a model of prosperity is brought up in the second chapter to show that “buffalo milk, even as it is commercially valuable, is spiritually repulsive” (p.93).

The concealed atrocities behind the ‘divinity’ of milk are meticulously carved out in the chapter ‘Milking’. In showing the maternal vulnerabilities of dairy cows, Narayanan marks out two foundational acts that are uncongenial to their health: continuous impregnation and separation of the suckling newborn from its mother to divert the milk for human consumption. Emotionally concerned with the forceful limitation of the relationship between mother and infant, she asks whether breastfeeding and suckling is a universal mammalian right or a homosapiens privilege. The chapter goes on to reveal how intensive confinement of dairying and extraction of milk by using oxytocin has become an adversary to their physiological conditions. Mastitis is an often-reported problem because of repeated impregnation. Even in gaushalas (cow shelters) that are supposed to be the ideal place for animal welfarism, as the author sets out in chapter four, cows have to be confronted with harmful and violent practices. “The system of gaushalas is identical to the production systems of dairy farms” (p.171). As indicated earlier, the milk collected from gaushalas is considered more sacred and is qualified for rituals. Interestingly, she introduces Simhachalam Temple where thousands of male calves are donated to God. It is said that the offering allows the donors to relieve the conscience of separating male calves and the indispensable destiny of their slaughter that awaits on the way. Here also, temples are hesitant to receive foreign breeds due to the highly charged demand of Hindutva right-wing politics.

The narratives of protection are further elaborated concerning the activities of cow vigilantes. The chanting “Save cow, Save India” was so integral to the election propaganda of the current BJP regime that it villainized the beef-eating groups and eulogized dairy products. The chapter underscores how far gendered and racialized understanding can be entrenched in seeing the cow as a mother of the nation. Mentioning the case of Amar whose murder charges got ‘buried’ when he declared to become a full-time cow savior, Narayanan particularly attempts hereby to understand the intricate motivations of cow vigilantes. The economic advantages, even by the state government, drove many of the vigilantes to be part of the activism, alongside the genuine love for cows. The organizational system is ostensibly demarcated along the lines of class tensions, being administered by what is normally called white-collar managers. Amidst the ever-growing attacks and food restrictions of cow vigilantes, the resistant voices also find resonance, particularly in Indian universities where students conducted a beef festival as a stamp of protest and opposition.

The cruelty and vulnerabilities that the bovine bodies need to endure are extremely pronounced in trafficking and slaughtering. Crossing state and national boundaries, the big vehicles carry these contraband cattle in a way, as she heart-wrenchingly explains, that “contain a large morass of bleeding, dying, suffering animals, whose legs and horns are frequently broken to load them in such a way that packing efficiency is maximized” (p. 217). The cooperation of authorities employing bribes is also seen to be conducive to illegal trafficking. The butcher houses, whether it be industrial, municipal, or backyard underground/illegal, exemplify the various forms of stringent animal exploitation. Narayanan is no less interested in describing the horrific impact that the slaughter exerts on those workers, the majority of whom belong to Dalit, Muslim, and oppressed OBC communities. At the end of the book, the author as a staunch animal activist envisions the possibility of post-dairy futures and seeks the readers to reframe the animal-human relationship that must be endorsed by the matrix of multispecies awareness and sensibilities.

This groundbreaking research compels us to foreground animals as integral political subjects and by interrogating the sacramentality, unmasks the vicious acts embedded in cow nationalism. The large-scale ethnographic descriptions combined with appropriate photographs make the book more interesting and captivating. Having said that, some repetition of the same ideas in multiple chapters could have been avoided. Further, while concentrating on violence, Narayanan does not touch upon the heartfelt relationship between animals and humans that is sustained mainly in the informal, small farming areas. Finally, besides, the post-dairy vegan lifestyle is not without problems as it can unsettle the environmental order and the rights of tribal communities. Despite these critical observations, overall, this book is a substantial contribution that will undoubtedly stimulate the future of animal studies, particularly in the Indian context. As the writing style is not disciplinary-specific, the book can gain traction even among the non-academic circles.