In the agriculture heartland of Tamil Nadu, do we really want to go from this idyllic conceptualization of the 'perfect time' to . . .
This gross, ugly exploitation of other living beings?
In respect of the future of agriculture in Tamil Nadu, an analysis was recently brought out by the Human Development Centre entitled 'The Road Ahead: Tamil Nadu in the New Millennium'. One very interesting section of the report is: 'Income, Employment and Poverty' as the economy of Tiruvannamalai District is primarily based on agriculture.
What used to be a peaceful family enterprise of raising cows and selling off the milk to homes and the Government's milk Company 'Aavin' is now quickly developing into an intensive, and highly competitive commercial venture. In this respect many large private dairies have opened up around Tiruvannamalai specifically to supply large quantities of milk to the new milk processing plants in town. As well as this, there are currently plans to open a large powdered-milk plant in the Tiruvannamalai District.
What follows is an excellent article entitled 'Milk in the Age of Convenience by Arun Deva' talking about the current commercialisation of milk production.
"As with all great treasures, milk comes with certain caveats. As our society further distances itself from nature and turns gradually more synthetic, these caveats turn into dire warning signals. A look at milk's qualities as expressed in the magnificent Ayurvedic text, the Caraka Samhita, shows the potentiality of both misuse and overuse. Caraka lists milk's qualities as sweet, cold, soft, lubricant, unctuous, smooth, slippery, heavy, slow and pleasant. In Ayurveda, milk is almost never drunk cold, as it is harder to digest and thus turns the milk from sattvic to tamasic in nature. Sattva is a state of lightness, equanimity, clarity, and, in this case, fortification, strength and vitality. Tamas, on the other hand, reflects dullness, confusion, sloth, and in this case, the process of compromising its quality, leading to ill health and the potentiality of allergies. But what exactly is "compromised" milk?" . . .
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