The Hindu Business Line : Bull in a china shop till the cows come home

WHAT'S boiling is not milk, but the milkman of India, Kurien. Also heated up are millions of people, sporting mischievous milk moustaches and littering the inbox with litres and cans of questions!

Mmmooow!

Ah, I understand your lingo. You like Kurien a lot! And you want to know what happened. Earlier this month, as the Chairman of the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), he sacked Prathap, the executive director, from the board of governors. Subsequently, three other board members who came to attend the meeting where the matter was to be voted on were prevented from entering the IRMA premises.

What is the sound of one cow mooing?

That's exactly what the court found out when discussing the case. Prima facie, this was the sound of one man shooing off everybody! More particularly, an instance of an individual "trying to impose his supreme authority on an institution in total negation of all democratic norms," as the judge said. But that only made a cow madder!

How to tell if your cow has mad cow disease?

There's `The Official Mad Cow Disease Home Page' www.mad-cow.org with `7,651 plus articles' on the subject. If you want something faster, try www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh/madcow.html.

Or, is this a case of old cow?

If you ask Sudershan, he'd say `yes' and suggest `new faces,' but he'd also come back and say you misunderstood him.

Age is a tricky subject not only with actresses but also with our leaders, of parties and institutions, so we can avoid the debate.

As Tom Wilson said, "Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself." Hope you're old enough to understand!

This is the cow with the crumpled horn!

Yes, sing along, everybody! This is the farmer sowing his corn, that kept the cock that crowed in the morn, that waked the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tattered and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with the crumpled horn, that tossed the dog, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Kurien built.

Are we talking about a holy cow?

Thanks for the reminder! Sacred cow is "a belief or system that is treated with much respect and is not usually criticised," as Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms explains. Common people `have a cow,' an Americanism, that is, for being very worried, upset, or angry.

How sad that the milk business which is a `cash cow' is getting diluted by politics! Though we can keep talking `till the cows come home,' as Hank Aaron said, "You can only milk a cow so long, then you're left holding the pail."

Bull****!

Lots of bull, in fact. Detractors say, Kurien is not only `bull-headed' but also looks `like a bull at a gate' doing wrong things awkwardly fast. It is said, some people are painting `china shop' inside IRMA, though you can dismiss it as `a cock-and-bull story'! However, the recent verdict seems to `take the bull by the horns,' though to Kurien, all this may be `like a red rag to a bull.' So, take cover!

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in

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Bull in a china shop till the cows come home