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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Who knew there were so many uses for cow urine and poo?!
After living in the US for 20 years, Shoba and her family return to India to reconnect with their roots. Shortly after moving in to their new apartment she becomes somewhat obsessed with the lady selling milk in the street - and her cows. A friendship with benefits is tentatively formed, and we begin to learn everything we could ever hope to about Cows and their “products”.
After living in the US for 20 years, Shoba and her family return to India to reconnect with their roots. Shortly after moving in to their new apartment she becomes somewhat obsessed with the lady selling milk in the street - and her cows. A friendship with benefits is tentatively formed, and we begin to learn everything we could ever hope to about Cows and their “products”.
*An advanced reader ebook copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
I loved reading Narayan's unique perspective on Indian culture. Though raised in India, Narayan spent 20 years in the U.S. before moving back with her husband and two children. Thus she can see Indian culture as both an insider and an outsider. I think this provides a great access point for readers like myself who are not Indian or Indian American. She can switch between her experiences as a child in India to the Western influenced perspective from her time in the U.S.
I love the cultural and historical tidbits provided throughout. Narayan seamlessly ties together her everyday interactions alongside the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, and Ayurvedic medicine. I never thought I would read about cow excrement and urine let alone their alleged curative powers. Gomutra is the term refers to the usage of cow urine as a remedy for a number of ailments. Despite the odd sound to Western ears, it was fascinating to learn about Gomutra and other alternative remedies and Narayan handles it with both knowledge and a touch of humor. Not only does she provide information about Hindu principles and practices, Narayan introduces the reader to Sarala, her milk lady. Sarala and her family have several cows, which they milk and provide their customers with fresh raw milk. One of the most endearing parts of this book is the friendship that develops between the two women. Sarala teaches Narayan, and thus the reader, a lessons about live and cows.
This booked sparked my interest in learning more about Indian culture and Hinduism. I love when a book makes you want to read even more books. I would highly recommend this fun, informative, and quick read!
I loved reading Narayan's unique perspective on Indian culture. Though raised in India, Narayan spent 20 years in the U.S. before moving back with her husband and two children. Thus she can see Indian culture as both an insider and an outsider. I think this provides a great access point for readers like myself who are not Indian or Indian American. She can switch between her experiences as a child in India to the Western influenced perspective from her time in the U.S.
I love the cultural and historical tidbits provided throughout. Narayan seamlessly ties together her everyday interactions alongside the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, and Ayurvedic medicine. I never thought I would read about cow excrement and urine let alone their alleged curative powers. Gomutra is the term refers to the usage of cow urine as a remedy for a number of ailments. Despite the odd sound to Western ears, it was fascinating to learn about Gomutra and other alternative remedies and Narayan handles it with both knowledge and a touch of humor. Not only does she provide information about Hindu principles and practices, Narayan introduces the reader to Sarala, her milk lady. Sarala and her family have several cows, which they milk and provide their customers with fresh raw milk. One of the most endearing parts of this book is the friendship that develops between the two women. Sarala teaches Narayan, and thus the reader, a lessons about live and cows.
This booked sparked my interest in learning more about Indian culture and Hinduism. I love when a book makes you want to read even more books. I would highly recommend this fun, informative, and quick read!
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
This book truly made me appreciate milk in a whole new way. I often think about how environment affects other things (especially wine!), but I never would have thought to apply the same concept to milk! Narayan does an excellent job mixing her experience and journey while still offering history and fact to create a piece of literary journalism that was engaging and eye-opening.
DNF at page 82. I think it’s misguided to accept this narrative as a tale of an unexpected friendship that transcends class. I fear this “feel-good” story does more to reinforce harmful ideas about people living in poverty.
When talking about what Shoba Narayan calls “the resilient matter-of-factness of India’s poor,” she says, “People get used to a certain standard of life, a way of being. They adjust to their lot. They learn to be happy within their means.” This is coming from an ivy league educated journalist who is married to the former head of emerging markets in Morgan Stanley. From this viewpoint she also writes about a man who decides not to go to the police after his cow has been run over, by saying that she admires how he “turned his impotence with the police into a choice.”
Narayan acknowledges the “Pandora’s box of guilt” that comes from “being surrounded by people whose means are drastically different than mine,” including the various domestic workers she employs. But she seems to use “the milk lady of Bangalore” as a prop for various forms of self-improvement. She admits, “the truth is that Sarala is not my friend,” because of their transactional interactions, but that she gains a great deal from maintaining a relationship with her.
When talking about what Shoba Narayan calls “the resilient matter-of-factness of India’s poor,” she says, “People get used to a certain standard of life, a way of being. They adjust to their lot. They learn to be happy within their means.” This is coming from an ivy league educated journalist who is married to the former head of emerging markets in Morgan Stanley. From this viewpoint she also writes about a man who decides not to go to the police after his cow has been run over, by saying that she admires how he “turned his impotence with the police into a choice.”
Narayan acknowledges the “Pandora’s box of guilt” that comes from “being surrounded by people whose means are drastically different than mine,” including the various domestic workers she employs. But she seems to use “the milk lady of Bangalore” as a prop for various forms of self-improvement. She admits, “the truth is that Sarala is not my friend,” because of their transactional interactions, but that she gains a great deal from maintaining a relationship with her.
I took a break from fiction with this true story about an urban dairy operation in Bangalore, India. I now have an increased respect for cows and the people who love and care for them. I also have a craving to try fresh milk straight from a cow breed native to India. Bucket list!
i just wish she hadn't rushed for american translations at every point. i dont need dollar translations every time she names a price of something.
I loved this book thanks to the wonder writing, the humor of the author, learning more about the culture, and seeing the friendship of the two women. A huge bonus was how quickly I read it!
7/10⭐️ This one was an odd little book; not necessarily odd like as in a crazy uncle who really no one likes but he is family so you have to see him at holidays. But odd like as in eclectic and fun like a friend who is an scientist but also likes to knit sweaters around trees in her spare time. I say this because this book is all over the place. It is part memoir about the authors‘ move back to India after spending 20 some years in NYC as a student and young professional. It is a little bit sociology and anthropology because this book is about cows and Indian culture’s love of them and why. It’s a little bit travel writing because we get such great descriptions of what living in modern day India is like. India is a major character here. But it is also about the friendship between the author who is an upper middle class writer and her milk lady; the woman who raises cows across the street and sells her milk. This book is filled with crazy facts like how having a cow enter your new home and taking a dump is a way of blessing your new abode and bringing you good fortune. And how many in India drink cow urine for the health benefits. And how India is progressing to a modern country but there is still so many strange traditions rooted in the old ways. This was a fascinating book in many ways and I appreciated the whimsical tone but it is also just.....strange. This was an audiobook for me and the narrator was quite good. I’m not sure this book is for everyone but if you are an animal lover and also like learning about different cultures, this could be an interesting and a little outside the box read.