Cowherd Poem by Gangadharan nair Pulingat..

Once there were plenty of cowherds in the village
When there were limited employment and wages to unskilled
The poor cowherds lived in penury
But they loved the cows and calves they graced
They gave them plenty of love and affection
Seldom they ate before there cow's stomach in full
But the cows were giving limited quantity of milk
But plenty of nutrition and fat contents
It was sweet and enough for tea in numbers
People loved the cow milk for their daily needs

The children were the happiest lot
They got the best of cheese from the milk
The fat membrane accumulated when boiled
The children took it clandestinely from the pot
How sweet was the milk those days I remember
As a member of a family which had number of dwarf cows

There were enough space for gracing the cows
which was land marked for the exclusive gracing land
There were medicinal bushes in the gracing land
which helped the milk to be precious and fatty

As in other spaces of domestic animals
dwarf cows have became extinct on several reasons
Gracing land had fully gone forever
Human habitat converted it into home compounds
with strong stone walls none can enter
Not to say the case of cows and its freedom

There were large ponds excavated for drinking water
Exclusive usage of the cows and bullocks
Unfortunate to say the ponds are now dry, not in use
Only became dumping pit for plastic waste

The people's choice became for the cross varieties
where they got large quantity of milk and then money
which made the milk more employment and return
The poor cowherds have vanished from the scene
The changes of life in changes of time many.