Who do Indians love cows so much?
One of the reasons, writes historian Mukul Kesavan, is that the "desi cow is a beautiful thing".
"Its large eyes, its calm, its matte skin tinted in a muted palette that runs from off-white to grey through beige and brown, its painterly silhouette with its signature hump, make it the most evolved of animals," he says.
It is also a sacred animal for the majority Hindu community, and they amble unmolested in traffic-choked streets. The animal is worshipped and decorated during festivals; holy men take around cows, with their foreheads smeared in vermillion, to seek alms.
There is even a journal called Indian Cow; and a Love 4 Cow Trust to "propagate and promote love" for cows. A right-wing Hindu organisation has actually launched cosmetics using cow urine and dung.
The cud-chewing, sedentary bovine also provides fodder for humour. A hugely popular - and possibly apocryphal - story relates to an essay on the animal by a civil service aspirant. "The cow is a successful animal," it began. "Also he is quadrupud, and because he is female, he give milk, but will do so when he is got child. He is same like God, sacred to Hindus and useful to man. But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards."
Virulent campaign
But let's not digress.
More seriously, most states forbid cow slaughter, and the ban on beef has been criticised by many because the meat is cheaper than chicken and fish and is a staple for the poorer Muslim, tribal and dalit (formerly untouchable) communities.
Not surprisingly, the cow is also India's most polarising - and political - animal.
Last month, a 50-year-old man in northern Uttar Pradesh was killed in a mob lynching over rumours that his family had been storing and consuming beef at home. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence over the killing nearly two weeks later, members of his party thrashed an independent lawmaker in Kashmir for hosting a beef party.
Earlier this month, Hindus and Muslims clashed over rumours, again, of cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh. A row over banning beef is threatening to stoke religious tensions in restive Kashmir.