“ Gopala says to the cow he has reared ‘Gauramaan, you’re an animal.” I take exception to this, and I think Gauramaan might too. That’s because Gopala too is an animal, albeit with a developed brain, but humans do forget they belong to the monkey family,” writes Barry John, Indian theatre director and teacher in the foreword of The Hungry Cow.

   Inspired by Haryana Police’s Mission Stray Cattle, author Sandeep Kumar Rana’s debut book follows an 11-year-old Raju in his struggles of saving the only cow his family rears. Not just any cow, but a talking four legged animal named ‘GauraMaan’ who treats Raju as her own son. “I volunteered as a writer for Mission Stray Cattle that was being spearheaded by the then SSP, Hisar (now ADGP, Haryana) Shrikant Jadhav, IPS.

   During this period, I learned about the sorry state of cows,” says Rana. While the book is about....