Cow urine has become a booming business in India and this is how!

Every morning at around 4 am workers at the Keeshav Shrusti Go Shaala at Bhayander in Thane district head to the tabelas cow sheds bucket in hand The aim is to collect the first urine of the cows all 230 of them including males and calves Every day the go shala collects 200 litres of gomutra cow urine which is then sent to a distillation unit next door where it is filtered bottled and then shipped across the country in bottles priced between Rs 20 and Rs 80A worker collects cow urine at Keshav Srushti Gaushala at Bhayender PicSneha KharabeWhat was according to many who hark back to the countrys Vedic past once a norm and a goto medicine in the country has seen a revival of sorts in the last two years coinciding with the advent of the BJP government that has brought in cow protection laws The accompanying popularity of Ayurvedic medicine in the line of alternative medicine and a backtonature rush has meant that those seeking gomutra as the cure for all ailments mdash it is touted as a cure for cancer diabetes high blood pressure psoriasis among others mdash has spurred a rise of gomutra products in the marketWhile once you had to connect with your local tabela for a packet of the elixir exactly a year ago The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research initiated projects to study the anticancer and antiinfection properties of various cow products including cow urine and dung today cow urine is available off the NetSantosh JakiLast September Bengalurubased Maa Gou Products MGP approached BigBasket to distribute its range of cowurine based products ranging from floor cleaner tooth powder balm and face pack The service proved to be a hit according to news reports which pegged the first month sales at around Rs 1 lakh Platforms such as ebay Amazon has retailers that even sell cow dung cakesThere are other sites that have been set up specifically to sell cow byproducts One such is the oneyearold vendor portal wwwgaukrantiorg Thirtyfiveyearold Ashwwani Kathuria says its a volunteer based portal set up by people with tech backgrounds to help create awareness about the value of cows and their byproducts The site which retails a range of products gets 40 per cent of its revenue from cow urine Because clients can be picky about which go shaala their products come from the site also allows you to choose your go shaalaDifference between productsBut not all cow urine bottles are the same or tout the same solutions Some are used as cleansers Mumbaikars will recall the Kandivli corporator who suggested that KEM Hospital be cleansed daily with cow urine Some others are meant specifically for weight lossGoArk Kathuria says is a weightloss product made by boiling cow urine in an iron pot to which a vapour condensing device is attached It is harmless and can be given to children and women Among his own products he says the basic difference is in the source of the cows Goseva GoArk is prepared from the GIR cowrsquos urine from which recently traces of gold were discovered and GouGanga has mixed Indian breedsThe lure of the Desi cowSantosh Jakhi who runs the Keshav Srushti go shaala says his cows are fed on grass and green vegetablesAkhand Anand Prabhuji or Anand Prakash of ISKCON who now lives in Vrindavan Mathura says the best urine is got in the morning ldquoLeave the first few drops and the last few drops The stream in the middle is the bestrdquo he adds Consumption of cow urine is down to an exact science mdash from how much to drink 15 ml diluted with 15 ml water to even which breed to use The unanimous response is the Bos Indicus the breed indigenous to the subcontinent The reason for thisrdquo says Anand ldquois that foreign breeds such as the Jersey cow have been subjected to genetic modificationHe says that once the gomutra is collected it is filtered around eight times through a piece of cotton cloth The distillation process he says helps ensure that there is no ammonia so that the shelf life is increased Typically itrsquos good to be used up to two years after bottlingBut not everyone is open to drinking the liquid To capture this market that would be interested in the benefits of gomutra but not the gomutra itself the healthcare division of Pitambari Products Pvt Ltd in 2013 launched the Gomutra Plus Capsule Manufactured in Gujarat the capsule is a dehydrated version lsquoensriched with herbsrsquo available at retail stores across Maharashtra Gujarat Indore and Karnataka for over Rs 200 for 30 capsulesBeyond Indian shoresThe demand for gomutra mdash whether as a medicine a face pack or a floor cleanser mdash is rising even beyond Indian shores Kathuria talks of inquiries coming in from the UK US Australia and even Arabic countriesldquoIn the UK you canrsquot sell cow urine for human consumption We sell for pooja use onlyrdquo says a seller in Wembley in London which has a sizable Gujarati population Here cow urine is imported from India in 50 ml bottles It can cost anything between pound34 Rs 260 to Rs 300 The shop also sells cow urine online and sometimes in bulk across the UK The seller explained that maximum sales happen during festivals and special occasionsldquoWe can confirm that some Hindus in the UK try to use traditional items such as cow urine for various ritualsrdquo said Radha Mohan Das Communications Secretary of Bhaktivedanta Manor ISKCON UKA word of cautionBut not all believe in the commercialisation of gomutra Amit Vaidya 38 is a cancer survivor Four years ago when detected with Stage IV cancer the thenNew York resident checked into a Gujarat hospital for cow urine therapy As the progress of the disease slowed he moved to a village where he stayed at a gau shaala taking care of a cow ldquoI would drink the urine I collected and would cover myself with gobar twice a day and stand in the sunrdquo he adds Slowly he says he began to feel healthier Soon medical reports showed that the cancer was receding He has put this experience down in a book Holy Cancer How a Cow saved my life To this day he says he gets 100 calls a day from patients and relatives But cow urine therapy isnrsquot a simple trick he warns ldquoI made lifestyle changes too such as eating ginger off the ground and haldi too and leading a simple life in the village Additionally you have to understand what the cow is eating through the day Look at the cows that roam Mumbairsquos streets feeding on plastic How will their urine be medicinalrdquomdash with inputs from Ruhi Khan