Dwelling on Donkey’s milk !

The first food that almost every human tastes is mother’s milk.

Some unlucky human kids survive on formulated milk. In due course,

most of us gradually shift to cow’s milk and remain there.

(‘Cow’ here includes buffalo) Some turn vegans and some leave out

milk in later life but these are exceptions.   

There are some, the most famous being Gandhi, I mean the Mahatma,

who deviated and consumed milk of other animals. Goat in Gandhi’s case.

In the deserts I believe people use Camel’s milk and at higher altitudes

Yak’s milk. One of our poems in the primary section had the lines

“ಸವಿದು ಮೆದ್ದರೊ ಯಾರು ಪೂರ್ವದಿ ಹುಲಿಯ ಹಾಲಿನ ಮೇವನು”. It was  a poem

eulogising ancestors of Coorg people. It means “in the olden days

our ancestors drank tiger’s milk”. But I don't think anyone really

drank tiger’s milk. 

Donkey’s milk was in the news during COVID. For ‘boosting the

immune system’. (A term which I have not been able to understand.) 

And later it caught on as a product rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins,

antioxidants and what not ! I understand bottled donkey’s milk is

available online at a fabulous price. $ 160 - 250 per bottle. Google

says that the cost of a litre of donkey’s milk is between Rs 3000 - 5000. 

I haven’t used it nor have I seen anyone use it. But my senses say

that its benefits are questionable. There are so many weird things in

the world. I have seen people massaging a pralysed limb with pigeon

blood and eating the meat of a Monitor Lizard to revive the same.

Drinking Donkey’s milk may not be as bad as that but probably not

much better. (I will have to swallow my words along with Donkey’s

milk if the scientific world tomorrow hails Donkey’s milk as best !) 

This morning I was walking back home after buying my Nandini Milk

( Brand name of milk produced by Karnataka Milk Federation - assumed

to be cow’s milk). From a side street I heard a loud speaker blaring

“ಕತ್ತೆ ಹಾಲು, ಕತ್ತೆ ಹಾಲು, ಮನೆಮುಂದೆ ಕರೀತದೆ ಕತ್ತೆ ಹಾಲು” (Donkey’s milk,

Donkey’s milk, will milk in front of your house, Donkey’s milk)

As I neared the intersection, I saw a fellow leading a donkey on

the end of a rope. He turned onto the road I was on and walked

ahead of me. The loud speaker was tied to the Donkey’s back.  

A little ahead of us was an elderly gentleman standing in the front

yard of a house. As we neared the house, the donkey fellow went

to the old man and enquired if he wanted donkey’s milk? 

The old man replied in jest  “ಹಸು ಹಾಲು ಕುಡಿದೇ ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕತ್ತೆಗಳಾಗಿದೀವಿ ರಾಜಾ.

ಇನ್ನು ನೀನು ಕತ್ತೆ ಹಾಲು ಕುಡಿಸಿದ್ರೆ ನಮ್ಗತಿ ಏನು?” - (even after drinking cow’s

milk we have become donkeys, my dear fellow, what if you make us

drink donkey’s milk ?) And as I got closer, he addressed me

“ಆಲ್ವಾ ಸಾರ್, ಏನಂತೀರ” (Isn’t it sir ? what do you say?) 

I endorsed his words wholeheartedly and walked home laughing

within myself, appreciating his wit. 

(Since I did not have my phone on me, I couldn’t get a picture.

So, borrowed a representative picture from the net)