MEGHA AND PAGLI : Two Curious Cattles

1: The Prosperous Cloud

Megha. She was the cloud that rained prosperity on the lap of Rajpal in countless amounts. Who would have thought that a cow could bring such a fortune to a man? The wealth made the other villagers respect him and others' respect made him more confident and positive towards life which he was never before. Even after acquiring so much wealth, he was a humble guy. He loved Megha, no doubt, more than anything he had. He cared about Megha so much that he had an everyday care routine for her. Waking up every day at 7 a.m. he used to clean Megha's shit and the fallen leaves of the Big Banyan Tree. Then scrubbing her body, he decorated her beautiful brown and white coloured body with banana leaves and flower garlands. With big copper earrings and crystal shinning nose ring, anklets with a pleasant noise and with those big calm eyes, Megha looked like a supreme gau mata who herself stepped on earth. Then taking a bath Rajpal used to worship and in the end, taking his plate to Megha, he applied sandalwood tilak to her forehead. Then sitting under the Big Banyan Tree, she peacefully ate her breakfast. So this was Rajpal's whole morning routine. It could be easily seen how much Rajpal loved Megha. He was thankful for everything he got because of Megha. The change that she brought into his life was drastic. He transformed from being poor, nervous, unconfident and the least popular fellow in the village to the wealthiest, relaxed, confident and the most popular fellow in the village.

By the way, Megha was not his only cow. He had one more cow whom he hated with the same intensity he loved Megha. Her name was Pagli and she was no different from her name. Rajpal named her over her crazy actions. She was like a wild cow who could not take orders and follow the rules. She had a vantablack colour body and thick and long horns that shined at the tip because of their sharpness, adding her bulky weight, made her a pure evil cow whom no one dared to fight with. Every day Pagli used to wake up only at the time of breakfast. She never attended the morning poja. She neither bathed nor dressed up before breakfast. No, she was not lazy but she knew Rajpal would not dress her up or decorate her. He would not even let her enter the poja hall. He did not hate her but he feared and worried that Pagli might change her fate again. She was his first cow and he loved her in the beginning but one day she kicked a human kid. This was her first crime and then with time, her crime rate doubled - tripled and reached above the sky. First neighbours started complaining then neighbours' neighbours and then the whole village defamed him, eventually, Sarpanch gave him a last warning saying "Next time if any incident occurred either you have to leave the village or Pagli"

Rajpal not only lost his little respect but also lost his valuable milk customers which worsened his financial condition and he became depressed. Those were the darkest days of his life and no doubt he blamed Pagli for it. From those days till this day, a lot of things changed. Rajpal imposed many rules on Pagli and also started beating her. His life was much better because of Megha but still, he feared that Pagli's actions and her bad luck could undo this time and this is what made him act harshly with Pagli.

Even after being so much different from each other. Megha and Pagli were buddies. They were like BFFs to each other. They always got each other's back. They used to shit together, eat together and sleep together under the Big Banyan Tree. They were aware of each other likes, dislikes and behaviours, especially Megha. She knew how much Pagli liked sweets. So she always shared her sweets with her which she used to get from Rajpal after the morning worship. But Megha was not getting sweets every single day. It was once a month like a thing. But desperate Pagli, every single day, waking up late in the morning, her first sentence was always "Did he give you?" and "No" was the frequent answer from Megha.

But that day was sweetened as Megha shook her head indicating a yes, while her mouth was full. They were having breakfast under the Big Banyan Tree. That little nod brought a blossoming smile to Pagli's face. She said, "Bring it on then."

Squeezing her face Megha replied "Nah Pagu, please don't start again. You know how we do it, right?"

"Oh god, Megha come on. Let me eat it."

"No, we will eat it only after breakfast, not in between. So finish it first. Understood"

Irritated Pagli took a big bite of grass from her steel boul and chewed it angrily.

The sun's morning rays shined on the ground but the rays were not strong enough to light the shade of the Big Banyan Tree, under which Megha and Pagli finally finished their breakfast. Megha brought her small boul. There were four pieces of Pedas in it. But before they could eat it a loud shout came "Oyeee...Rajpal......bro come out"

It was none other than the Sarpanch Sahab himself. He was standing right outside the gate wearing Dhoti Kurta and handling his walking stick. Hearing this familiar voice Rajpal came out and while opening the door he greeted him.

With a smile on his face, the Sarpanch asked "Can I meet your cow, Megha"

"Why not Sahab!"

Rajpal took him to his backyard where the Big Banyan Tree stood exactly in the middle. Its big roots were hanging from its branches, making it to the ground and its crown covered half the backyard and there in the shadow of the tree Megha and Pagli were sitting.

"Oh! She is so charming. But wait...., is that Pagli on Megha's side? You have not sold her yet."

"I am still finding a buyer Sahab. It's not easy to sell her, you know what I mean"

Both laughed.

"Yeah, I feel you Rajpal. It's not easy to sell this bitch."

Pagli shook her head aggressively. "This motherfucker is calling me a bitch. Did you hear that Megha?"

"Really? I don't even know what language they are speaking."

"Oh! It's Hindi. I know it a little bit."

"You are smart Pagli"

When they finished talking they realised that Rajpal and Sarpanch were already gone. Now they were in the front yard. While walking slowly- slowly towards the main gate, Sarpanch said "Oh! I forget to tell you my main purpose for coming here. Listen, next month is my daughter's engagement ceremony. So, please bring Megha to bless the couple and to carry out the rituals. Here take this 1000 rupees."

At first, he refused to take the money but eventually accepted it when Sarpanch said "Take it, it's my offering to Megha."

1000 rupees was a big amount but Rajpal gave no expression as if this amount was no big for him. Well, truly it was not because Megha's monthly offerings were way more than 1000 rupees. Because of her absolute beauty, she was treated no less than a goddess cow. Villagers invited her to every festival, celebration and gathering where huge offerings were given to Megha and this is how she became the cloud that rained prosperity on Rajpal.