The Most Beloved Cow in Gokulpur

Abstract

SUMMARYDuring ethnographic fieldwork in West Bengal, India, I witnessed the comingling of disgust and desire in shaping religious identity, the effervescent force of crowds, and moments of ordinary ethics enacted through labor. This short story is set in a fictional town: Gokulpur is a microcosm of the tension between rural idiosyncrasies and urban aspirations in India, permeated by growing right‐wing Hindu sentiments. Through the evolving relationship between a boy and his family's revered cow, I explore what it means to navigate companionship, community, and everyday life in an increasingly politicized village—and the reverberations of our choices. The piece originates from a desire to inhabit unfamiliar perspectives through closely observed characters and scenes, testing the potential and limits of imaginative empathy as a tool for social understanding. This work of fiction engages with anthropological scholarship on cross‐species friendship, nonhuman agency, religious ritual, and the ethics of care. [fiction, religion, India, animals, agency, ethics of care]