Bovine goldmine for conjecture: A certain breed of politicians think they will strike gold by praising desi cows

Some dairy majors do use the tag ‘gold’ on their milk packs but the allusion is probably not to the supposed auric properties of its contents. Those labels, hopefully, are where West Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh got the idea that milk from Indian cows contains gold. Unfortunately, his contention that the yellowish tinge in their milk indicates gold content and his startling revelation that the desi cows’ humps are chrysopoeic-gold conversion centres when exposed to sunlight, are not corroborated by science. Assertions of gold in milk should be cows for serious concern, as safeguarding ATMs is already difficult enough without milk booths being added to the category.

It may be recalled that in 2016, scientists at Junagadh Agricultural University claimed to have found that the urine of indigenous Gir breed of cows contain 3-10 mg of ionic (watersoluble) gold. Perhaps Ghosh just got bovine body fluids mixed up, and milk offered the better talking point.

Three months ago, Uttarakhand chief minister TS Rawat was rightly criticised for averring cows are the only animals that also exhale oxygen: he was wrong. Not because cows do not exhale it, but because all animals — including humans — do, as we retain only a part of the oxygen breathed in and expel the rest. Such leaders should be reminded that sometimes silence is golden.