A very moo-ving encounter

ldquoThey begin their day with Bhajans and move on to Bollywood songs sometimes we play Marathi music toordquo our guide Jaba Roy at Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farm owned by Parag Milk Foods in Manchar in Maharashtrarsquos Western Ghats looked straightfaced as she revealed this daily routine of their important residents But we were trying hard to contain our laughter as we were informed about amusing element that formed part of the schedule of over 3500 cows whose job was to produce a variety of milk and cheese products Cows are taken for milking thrice a day PicsNimesh Dave Dairy tourism might be in its nascent stage in India yet there seems to be a growing interest into understanding how things work mdash behind the scenes Along with this farm the company owns a cheese plant and has introduced the concept of dairy tourism to educate an increasing number of people about the process of converting milk into cheese To get a handson experience we decided to attach ourselves to one ofthe tours The Rotary Panel is machine that milks the cows It milks 50 cows at one zgo in seven minutes Walking into the cow belt The plant and the farm which are approximately five kms apart are situated in the rustic setting of Manchar a village that sits on a pristine stretch of the Western Ghats with hills beautifying the landscape in addition to the green fields It took us approximately four hours to reach our destination by road from Mumbai On arrival at the plant we were greeted by our guide Jaba Roy Before one enters the cheese plant one has to go through this disinfectant chamber where the air disinfects your clothes This is to maintain hygiene The tour started with the visit to the cheese plant where the milk received from the farm is converted into different products Special attention is given to hygiene hence each one of us was provided with a sparkling white coat similar to the one doctors wear a cap and a mask After dressing for the tour we were given a small introduction to different kinds of cheese visions of a cheeseladen pizza began to emerge and were shown a disinfectant chamber Post that we were asked to stand on a machine that cleaned our shoes and sanitised our hands thinking of Jetsons anyone After cheese is created and dried it is moved to the Ripening Room where it is left to ripe While Mozzarella gets ripe in 3 to 9 days Cheddar takes between 3 to 6 months Next we were inside the expansive plant amidst myriad machines that were working meticulously to create our favourite cheese from cowrsquos milk Roy took us from one machine to the other explaining different processes and enlightening us about the different ways they are consumed in for example slices wedges spreads etc Once done with this we were taken into the storage room where cheese is stored after packing and also houses the blast chiller cold storage that maintains a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius mdash we dared not wander there This machine helps in creating cheese slices which are then packed in packs of 10 Cattle care Next stop on our tour was our visit to the farm mdash a 10minute car ride The 40 acre stateoftheart farm which is managed by American Edmund Piper is home to 3500 Holstein cows a cattle breed known today as the worldrsquos highest production dairy animals originating in Europe When we entered it was pleasing to note that the farm was cleaner than we expected and well segregated into different sections Cutting cheese in small bricks for storage First up Roy directed us to the Rotary Parlour itrsquos a no entry zone that can be viewed from a gallery above through a glass separator It was fascinating to see this innovative milking equipment that milks 50 cows at one go in seven minutes The fact that cows knew where to get in from and when is the time to go out amused us However the close encounter with the cows was the best part Much bigger in size than the ones wersquove seen before these cows appeared squeaky clean and werenrsquot camera shy The moment we took out our camera they competed with each other to cover the frame No surprise then that two of these are called Aishwarya and Katrina respectively ldquoThese cows give 25 litres of milk each daily but there are two cows who give nearly 50 litres each everyday They are our star cows hence wersquove named them Aishwarya and Katrinardquo informs Roy Wersquod wait for the day when the actresses come face to face with their fourlegged namesakes How to sign up gtgt Cost is Rs 500 per person which includes pick and drop from Mumbai lunch and a gift hamper gtgtu00a0You will need to register with Heena Tours gtgtu00a0Direct visits are not allowed At Heena Tours Liberty first floor behind McDonalds Sarojini Road Vile Parle W Call 67294444 26166655 26166666 32514816 Your time at the farm gtgtu00a0Start 730 am from Dadar E gtgtu00a0Reach Manchar about one and a half hours from Pune by 1130 am gtgtu00a0After some rest visit to the cheese plant gtgtu00a0Post that visit to the dairy farm by 1 pm gtgtu00a0Lunch by 3 pm gtgtu00a0Return by 430 pm gtgtu00a0Reach Mumbai by 930 pmu00a0