Cow pat crisis? Go to Netra

Vivek Chhettri, TT, Darjeeling, Oct. 23: The crisis of a strong-smelling festival day essential in Darjeeling town has drawn people to a flower seller, who is selling blossoms with an unusual “freebie” on the side.

Marigold garlands and lotus buds are on sale at Netra Prasad Khatiwada’s roadside stack for the Tihar festival, the equivalent of Diwali in the hills. The freebie is a scoop of cow pat, also for the same hill festival.

Khatiwada has cashed in on a crisis — cows are hardly reared in the hills nowadays, so cow dung is hard to get.

Hindus regard cow dung holy as they worship the animal. In the Tihar festival, residents use cow pat to cleanse their homes.

At Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling, Khatiwada has kept on the side a lump of dung, which he got from a nearby village. He claimed he had been giving a free scoop of cow pat to all customers.

The flowers are generally brought from the plains, so hawkers in the hills are in a great hurry to sell them before they wilt.

Khatiwada, it seems, has found a good plan to sell his flowers fast, but some in the Chowk Bazar market have alleged he was not giving the cow pat for free. He was selling each scoop.

“I am selling marigolds and lotuses. However, I am not selling cow dung as I have been told that one must not sell cow dung,” Khatiwada said.

The dearth of cow dung stems from the fact that most of the villages around Darjeeling have stopped rearing cows. “Actually, it is difficult to get cow pat. I stopped using cow pat to cleanse my house five to six years ago,” said Sunita Pradhan,a resident of town.