The Cow

The Cow as Metaphor

While Indian metaphysical mythical, religious, social, literary and visual domains are inundated with cosmic avatars and fables of cow as Surabhi, Aditi, Kamdhenu, Gauri, Gomäta, Nandi, Deity, Lord Vishnu’s carrier or Krishna’s consort signifying piety plenty and fertility. The bull is a symbol of male sexuality and power. Sidharth’s art romances the cow to explore it afresh in an androgynous form and spirit. Cows in variable moods and modes that are worshiped as genteel, benevolent, tranquil, motherly, inexhaustible reservoirs of sacred offerings – milk, curd butter and ghee that nurture. Their urine and dung as medicinal cleansing and manure substances and their hide hoofs and horns for other uses alongside their association with farming in Indian life and mythology, are set against a contemporary scenario where the bovine is seen standing at cross roads; uncared, unkempt and feeding on the waste.

Rotating around man animal relationships, the lyrical work with its redemptive undercurrents seems to stem from Sidharth’s readings of Nanak and Sikh traditions and folk narratives while it is also emblematic of contemporary changing pattern of socio- economic realities and practices in the current series. Using the cow and objects associated with the animal as metaphors, the paintings and the sculptures in this section are marked for their inlaid drawings and natural pigments with silver gold and glitters.

‘The plough’ sculpture recalls the same as one of the first technology related objects that was pulled by the bull in the fields in country-side, but is lost and forgotten today amidst new age techniques of farming. The plough and the bull both seem no longer relevant as new methods of breeding and milking are seen to subsume the physical touch and natural process.

Baba Nanak in ‘Kartarpur’, a painting that shares its name with a village in Punjab, is seen lying blissfully amidst the lush green fields and under the tranquil shade of a fruit laden tree with birds chirping and cows grazing. Having put in the seeds and after watering and ploughing the soil, Nanak is seen waiting patiently for the crops to mature, as the joy of tranquility and replenishment is writ large on the Guru’s face in the canvas.

In ‘The Plough’ starting from a point in the outer periphery, gradually moving to the center creating rectangular trails, the famer ploughs his fields to approach the centre, where the mud or mati temple is formed before starting again; this time in the reverse direction to lay the seeds, going from inner to the outer space so that one does not tread over or trample the seeds while moving out or back. This process of construction, deconstruction also represents the cycle of life or amrit manthan churning of the mind. The seeds that take roots are absorbed by the soil but those that don’t are picked up by the birds or the rats, the ants and the snakes on which pounce the peacocks dancing around. The farmer having toiled in the fields is seen to rest in peace at the bottom of the painting hoping for the rain God to be kind to him so that he gets what is due to him in his fate.

‘Bhava sagar’ -the deep, dark ocean of emotions of karma. Cow as the metaphor of emotions stands on four legs of sat, dhyana, dharma and aryaman: time, space and body. It is said that by holding onto her tail (of Satyuga) one can swim across and find release from this dark and sad ocean.

Amongst the legends associated with cows as benevolent creatures, the narrative of ‘Nachiketa’ in Garuda Purana refers to Vajashrava trying to offer to Yama in return for his teachings, a gift of a herd of his old cows that could yield no milk that annoyed the Yama to curse him in return. The painting seems to work at multiple levels, depicting the dark side of the world as hell as well as the disrespect shown to the same cow that is worshiped and loved for its material value when available for milking but neglected and thrown out of intimate domestic space onto the road once she goes dry.

The artist’s philosophical leanings take this engagement a step forward. Cow is represented as a metaphor of the changing phases of time spans or epochs or yuga in work titled ‘Cow on one leg’. Within the cycle of four eras – Satyuga or golden era or age of enlightenment is represented by cow standing steady and relaxing on its 4 legs in perfect balance, Treta yuga has the cow managing to stand on its 3 legs- Dvapar yuga features a two legged cow with a tilt while in Kaliyuga or dark age a state of decadence when the cow has to cope with just one leg! There is an interesting replay here in cow as a symbol that mirrors the cyclical movement of the universe around the earth, the sun and the solar system with corresponding consciousness of human life as well as flora and fauna around.

The work while romancing with the cow, connecting it to mythology and ritual, it also juxtaposes human greed and cruelty to the mute animal.

Ms. Sushma Bahl