ONGOLE: Ayatri's visit to her grandparents’ village after 25 long years extended the lives of several heads of cattle that otherwise would have ended up in abattoirs. The woman, Hyderabad-based bank employee G Gayatri Ravishankar was excited to visit Chakicherla in Prakasam’s Ulavapadu mandal in April 2018.
For her, the visit to the village with family after more than two decades was also a trip down the memory lane, and a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of city life. The village presented a slice of reality in the form of two aged, emaciated cows, awaiting slaughter.
Farmers in the drought-hit area then had no alternative other than to sell their spent cows to slaughterhouses.
The sight of the cows, ignorant of their impending death, moved Gayatri. She decided to take up the responsibility of tending to orphaned and aged cows, or those suffering from debilitating illness. She approached a nearby ‘goushala’, or shelter for cows, to admit the two bovines, promising to pay for their fodder and upkeep.
The plight of the cows kept haunting Gayatri even after return to Hyderabad. After discussion with her pharmacist husband Ravishankar and son, who was pursuing a graduate course, she decided to set up a ‘gaushala’ in the village.
The decision made life hectic for Gayatri, but it gave her a sense of fulfilment. She shuttled between Chakicherla and Hyderabad every 15 days, and soon became the caretaker of eight cows. Seeing her dedication, Sri Ganapathi Sachhidananda Swami, appreciated her and advised Gayatri to continue her mission.
With the ‘members’ in her ‘goshala’ nearing the double-figure mark, Gayatri constructed a new shelter and registered it as ‘Sri Datta Brundavana Gou Kshetram’ in 2019. The ‘Kshetram’, which started with eight cows under its care, now has 80 cows and 21 calves.
Even as Ravishankar met the medical needs of cows, villagers, too, chipped in, donating cattle feed or even a bunch of grass, to the shelter. The farmers now believe that protecting the cows has blessed the village with adequate rains and good agriculture yields. Gayatri said she has been fond of village life and rural environment since her childhood.
“We started the ‘goushala’ here with two aged cows three years ago and now the number of cows and their calves has crossed 100” Gayatri said.
Madhuri, a close of friend of Gayatri, said the establishing and maintaining the ‘goshala’ was no easy task.
“The couple used to avail bank loans to provide shelter for more cows in the ‘goshala’. Gayatri’s uncle Nagendra, who returned from Australia a few years ago, voluntarily came forward to taken up the responsibilities of the goshala two years ago. Nagendra is residing in this village to look after the goushala,” she added.