Little Manua

'Manua' is an informal love laden term for a calf (baby cow) at least in Bihar. 

When I came out of a shop, I noticed that there was a little manua (calf) standing near my motorcycle. I was aware that several cows and calves were let go daily on the nearby roads by their owners for reasons I didn't understand. The cows appear to be living in their own world, moving where they want to go, sitting in an elegant pose in the middle of the road near road divider, and they vanish by evening. I looked at the calf to understand what he was up to. The calf moved from one side and when he came near the dikki (side storage) of my motorcycle, he scratched one of his ears with the cover of the dikki. It just blew my mind because I had never imagined that the side storage of my motorcycle could be used for such a purpose. I felt so much proud that my motorcycle could be of use to the lovely calf. 

Afterwards, the calf just stood still and seemed to have no idea what to do next. It bothered me because I was waiting for him to move so that I could leave on my motorcycle. Hence, I gently pushed the calf by touching its back. When I pushed him, the calf seemed to feel nothing and did not move at all. Perhaps he was used to humans pushing him like that. But I was surprised that when I touched the calf, I found he was very warm as if he was coming out of a quilt (rajaai) in winter. And its skin had hair, although the hair did not hurt at all and even felt good to touch. Like gentle grass.  

After having failed to push the warm hairy calf (manua), I waited for a few more moments and then the calf decided to leave on its own. Therefore, I was able to take my motorcycle out and swiftly return home.

Even after few hours, I can still feel the touch of 'manua' calf's warm skin and it is such a heartwarming feeling. 

I am not sure if I shall ever meet that calf again, so I wish him a comfortable and safe long life. May he always get good food and a shade to sit through the days and nights. Also because winter is approaching. 

- Rahul