Story of a Bull

It was mid-1960s. We lived in a small village in Uttarakhand. One of our bulls had become old and was not being used by us. An ironsmith in our village asked my father if he could take the bull for using in his small farm. My father readily agreed and gave it to him without asking for anything in return. 

I was a school going child at that time. Next day, while on the way to school, I noticed our bull, along with some other bulls tied in a corner. The bull recognised me and made crying sounds. I was in a rush to go to school and knew that father had given it away so I ignored. In the evening, when father came home, I told him about seeing the bull. He got worried and took a sharp-edged tool with him and went in search of the bull. He got to know that a butcher had bought animals including our bull for slaughter. My father loved the bull like a family member. From there only, he kept moving in search of the bull and did not come home that night. I was afraid to tell anyone in family about the bull incident lest they blame me for sending our father after him. 

Father kept moving in the night with the help of a handheld torch. He kept enquiring about the butcher and based on leads provided by the villagers kept moving. Next day he caught up with him. The butcher told that ironsmith had sold the bull to him for five rupees. My father asked him to return the bull and offered ten rupees. The butcher was not agreeing. After seeing the hullaballoo, villagers gathered around them. Some knew my father. They pressurized the butcher to return the bull or else face dire consequences. Out of fear, he agreed and returned the bull without taking any money. Father brought back the bull to home after two days. Then all got to know about what had happened. Ironsmith was taken to task about betraying the trust.

The bull stayed with us for over two years and fell very ill in his last days. We read Garuda Purana and performed pooja for peace to his soul and he left us after that.

(As narrated to me by a colleague) 

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Notes on Polyvagal Theory

While doing a course on Linkedin, I learnt about this theory. Taking notes from Wikipedia, as it has the simplest explanation when I googled.

Polyvagal theory takes its name from the vagus, a cranial nerve that forms the primary component of the parasympathetic nervous system.^[8][9][10] The traditional view of the autonomic nervous system presents a two-part system: the sympathetic nervous system, which is more activating (“fight/flight”), and the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports health, growth, and restoration (“rest and digest”). Polyvagal theory identifies a third type of nervous system response – the ‘social engagement system,’ a hybrid state of activation and calming that plays a role in our ability to socially engage (or not).

Polyvagal theory views the parasympathetic nervous system as being split into two distinct branches: a "ventral vagal system" which supports social engagement, and a "dorsal vagal system" which supports immobilisation behaviours, both “rest and digest” and defensive immobilisation or “shutdown”. Polyvagal theory was introduced by behavioral neuroscientist, Stephen W. Porges, in his presidential address to the Society of Psychophysiological Research in Atlanta Georgia on October 8, 1994.

(Source Wikipedia)