Street cow menace in Kathmandu

I was jostling for space on the busy streets of Kathmandu riding my bike. Ahead of me, lay hundreds of cars and bikes; behind even more vehicles. I was on a pavement though, trying to wiggle through the jam. Cheating my way through if you like. Going where only pedestrians should have. But I couldn’t help it, the traffic had bogged down and if I didn’t take to the pavement, I would be there for hours. But strangely, perhaps not, as I was making my way through, a big brown cow stood ahead of me, occupying the whole pavement and blocking my way ahead.

I honked. The cow was used to it I guess. Staying on the road for hours it was used to all the street cacophony. The cow barely blinked. I shook the handle of my motorcycle and with it the front tire to warn the cow. No reaction.

Should I push the cow? The cow was heavy, it had big horns. I was in for a serious damage if it got angry and charged.

Another bike honked from behind and we both laughed looking at each other. “Stupid cow,” the person on the bike said.
He brought his bike right up to the cow and gently touched the animal with the bike’s front tire.

I backed out.

The cow jumped and pointed its horns right at his motorcycle.

“Oh ho!”

I wanted to run now but I couldn’t. There were more motorcycles behind me. Ahead, the cow was getting rather excited. The person said, “If we’re not careful it’ll charge.”

Perhaps it was already too late.

This is situation we have to face living in Kathmandu. The city is a modern place, with cars, bikes, buses and trucks packing the streets during the day. Yet, they now have to share the road with cows.

In Nepal, there is an ancient culture of letting your cow lose during the day. The animals eventually come home in the evening after feeding itself. In the village, this is perfectly alright as there are large pastures for them to graze and roam around, but in Kathmandu, there aren’t any greenery and they usually slump on the street and create havoc for drivers. We can’t even scratch a cow in Nepal as they are very holy for the Hindus. If you kill one even by accident, it’s a greater crime than killing a human and you’re totally screwed.

A decade back, the government had issued a notice saying cows roaming the streets will be picked up and sends out of the Valley. The notice said owners complains would land in deaf ears because the streets were for vehicles not cows. The cows disappeared from the street after that. Now, with lawlessness on the increase and people disobeying the law all the time, they’re back and with vengeance.

This cow now was eyeing my brand new motorcycle. I love the chrome look of my bike but if a horn of the cow hit the petrol tank, it might go right through and let out all the petrol. I had to escape.

Luckily, the cars on the streets below started moving. I jumped right down on the street. The motorcycle behind had to break instantly and I heard a honk blare. I wasn’t worried about that. The driver would understand but the mad cow wouldn’t.

I left the other motorcycle beside the cow behind. I didn’t even turn around to see what his plight was like. I was glad I’d escaped and I knew I was never tangling with the cows again.

This is a warning to you also.

Share me your stories if you’ve encountered something like this.