Today I wish to introduce a book which all of you ought to read. There are a lot of people who work towards restoration of environment in Kerala. I’m not talking about environmentalists but ordinary people who do whatever they can, and try to plant trees in an attempt to bring the earth back to its previous condition. Among them are rural folk, organic farmers, city dwellers who put up forests on terraces, and others. All of them should definitely read this book. It will tell you about a person who undertook a struggle, and waged a war throughout her professional life. If she had lost it, her life would have become a failure.
All changes are brought about in this manner. There are martyrs in politics. So also in films. Only a few become super stars, the rest fall by the wayside. In the field of venture capital, money is advanced to only to a few entrepreneurs, and that too, after a thorough background check and vetting is done of the commercial viability of all the applicants. Yet, only three out of ten succeed, and the rest fail. Among other business entrepreneurs, only 30 out of 1,ooo taste success. However, the 970 also contribute hugely to the success of the 30 because they serve to show the reasons for their failure, and the stage to which they took their project forward, and so on. That is because changes take place in phases.
For instance, the film Panchavadippaalam was released 30-40 years back. It was a political satire that few people understood at that time. Similarly, when Aadaaminte Vaariyellu was released, no one in Kerala knew that it was a feminist film. A few recognized it for its value even though the word “feminism” had not gained currency then. If such a film had been made in these times, it would have gained great acceptance. But that film came much before its time. In fact all of K. G. George’s films have that quality. Such pioneers can be found in every field. Many of them may get defeated. Thoppil Bhasi says in his autobiography that the first fighters against injustice will get their backbones stamped upon and broken. Their followers are the ones who take the struggle forward.
In a sense, Shoshamma Teacher is a lucky person. Twenty years of her life was full of hardships. That was the period during which she brought back the Vechur cow from near extinction, with support from her husband Abraham Varkey sir. I got in touch with her after she had attained success. Earlier, I had read about her struggles, through newspaper reports. I had also heard allegations about her – that she had attempted to export the Vechur cow gene to foreign lands; she was a terror as an academic at the Mannuthy Agricultural University, and so on. (I had never imagined that I would one day be introduced to her.) Later, she was plagued by several problems. Many of her cows died. The Vechur cow was about to vanish. Much later it became such a big craze that people wanted to own Vechur cows.
Let me tell you more about the background in order to incentivize you to buy the book. This is a must-read book. It is a memoir of a scientist, and reads like a story. The title is Vechur Pashu: Oru Punarjanmam [Vechur Cow: A New Lease of Life], published by Vechur Conservation Trust. To be frank, I have a connection with the distributing agency. With the sale of every book, the agency gets Rs 100, and let me tell you why I am interested in this. We intend to spend this amount on the conservation of Vechur and other indigenous cows. Our aim is not to pocket the profit.
When the White Revolution took place, we considered it a great thing, and believed that the best way to increase milk production was by raising high-yielding foreign breeds here, and phasing out our native varieties in course of time. No one in the world ever permits their native breeds to die out like that. It is almost like killing our language and our culture. But our custom is to accept everything that comes from elsewhere and discard our own. As a result, we made arrangements to neuter our bulls. All the cows would come from foreign lands, and for the sake of raising calves, we would depend on semen from foreign bulls. The idea was to enrich Kerala with cows that could yield 60 to 100 litres of milk. In fact, if you go to Mysore you will be able to see such cows.
As this idea was taking over, Shoshamma teacher the scientist had an idea. She remembered that when she was a little girl, her family had reared Vechur cows. She wondered why we could not protect this small variety. In those days, not many knew about the benefits of this cow. Later research proved that the dung of this breed has a high amount of micro-organisms that could increase the fertility of the soil. Its milk is very rich in nutrients, and can be used to produce high-quality ghee, and also to make medicines. So, during the phase of experimentation, the first step that Shoshamma teacher took was to procure these cows. She had the support of a few sincere students and colleagues, and the project went forward because of their dedication. Her husband Mr Abraham Varkey gave her all the support she needed. He passed on nearly two years back, before COVID struck. Teacher had begun to write the book before that but with COVID and other interruptions, the work got delayed.
At a time when it was feared that Vechur cow had vanished from the face of the earth, she succeeded in getting eight of them. Today there are 7,000 to 8,000 Vechur cows in Kerala. A Vechur cow, with a pedigree certificate issued by the Vechur Conservation Trust, costs more than one lakh rupees. Without the certificate, it comes for Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000. A Vechur cow does not yield more than one-and-a-half to two litres of milk. The other indigenous varieties are Kasaragod Kullan, Kuttappuzha Kullan, Cheruvally and so on, all of which are protected now.
I had approached teacher on some business, maybe for making a documentary on her work. By then, I had had personal experience of raising a Jersey cow, and treating it for foot-and-mouth and other diseases. The person for whom I had bought that cow found it difficult to maintain the animal, and sold it after six months. Later we asked Shoshamma teacher whether she could arrange a cow for us. She was the person who encouraged us to rear cows. She said it was a difficult proposition because the Vechur breed was costly. The alternative was to go for the new Cheruvally breed, grown in Cheruvally Estate in Kottayam. Its peculiarity is that rope is not tied around its neck. The Cheruvally cows graze over 3,000 acres of estate land, and return on their own in the evening. When I brought one over here and tied a rope around its neck, it turned violent and chased us around! It yields more milk than Vechur cow and is bigger in size too. Now there are many Cheruvally cows and a few Vechur cows here. If the Miyawaki forest we have here grows better than anywhere else, it must be because of the dung of Vechur cows.
Teacher’s life was not at all an easy one. At a time when life generally rises to a better level, when one becomes a professor, gets regular government salary, enjoys social status and peace of mind and so on, her life was full of conflicts. Many baseless allegations were made against her, at national and international levels. She fought each one of them in the court and outside. She spoke to people and convinced them. She presented her scientific papers at various forums. And, finally, when she emerged victorious, it was time for retirement. She is over 80 years old now. And her struggles took place more than 20-30 years back. The controversial incidents took place between 1987 and 2000.
Even in cases, where a person overcomes struggles, a good part of their lives is spent in fighting them. There are many battles in which we lose. It was because Shoshamma teacher succeeded that a book emerged, and we have come to hear about her struggles. But there are scores of people who fight but still fail. This book will be a source of inspiration for them. Our chances of success may be slim but that should not provoke us to give up the fight. We should continue to make efforts because we may succeed. We have to strive till the last moment. This is a book that will inspire you. This is a book that every Malayali should possess. It throws light on the challenges that our scientific world faces, the traps people fall into, the manner in which people are trapped and so on. If not for these reasons, buy the book so that we can dedicate Rs 100 (that we get with the sale of each) for the conservation of our native species of cattle. The book costs Rs 300. You can buy it from our website www.cultureshoppe.com. I request that all of you buy copies of it.