Why Gaushala helper Khan Chacha gave up eating beef?

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 1 Years ago
Khan Chacha (Instagram of humans of Bombay)
Khan Chacha (Instagram of humans of Bombay)

 

Ashfaq Kamakhyani/Jaipur

Generally, people believe that only Hindus take care of the cow and revere the animal. Here is a Khan Chacha, a Muslim by faith, who could fulfill his wish to go to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage just by serving the cows.

His real name is not revealed and everyone affectionately calls him Khan Chacha. His interesting story has been highlighted by Humans of Bombay on their Instagram page. 

After reading it, one realizes that social caste or religion is no more important than humanity. Khan Chacha has become so engrossed in Gausewa (service of the cow)that he has even given up eating even beef.

Narrating his story, Khan Chacha says he was passing through a rough patch in his life in the year 2000. He had no job and left his home in Thar for Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in search of one.

As luck would have it, he failed to get a job for a year and he became a wanderer. One day he saw an advertisement for a Gaushala (Cow care center) that was looking for a helper. “I applied and my application was accepted.”

"My job was confirmed. I didn't have much experience working with cattle back then. Despite this, he was hired. “I became the first Muslim to work in Gaushala,” Chacha says. Khan Chacha continued to work for four years in the gaushala. He says he never felt he was looked at differently by his colleagues. “We all work together like brothers.”

Feeding the cows every morning, and milking them, was part of his routine. In the initial period, he worked to be paid at the end of the month He was paid Rs 1500 pm. “With this money, I had to feed 11 members of my family. As the days passed, the cows in the gaushala became my family."

He enjoyed spending time with them.

Khan Chacha educated his children by serving cows. Right now everyone is working and his children are settled in life. He married his children by the age of 50. As the children moved out he started saving for going to Hajj

Chacha says that in the meantime he was planning to go for the Hajj pilgrimage as Muslims must perform Hajj in their lifetime.

Destiny had another plan for Chacha.

In the year 2019, Khan Chacha lost his younger son in a road accident and the responsibility of looking after his two young children fell on him. He diverted all his savings for their education. He says, ”I knew that I was doing the right thing. I also knew that with my rising expenses, I would never be able to go on Hajj.”

Chacha said that when he narrated his story to his coworkers at his Gaushala, to share his grief with them something interesting happened. The next day, Khan Chacha got the biggest surprise of his life. The Hindu workers of Gaushala had raised rs 30,000 for his Hajj pilgrimage, Chacha cried.

Khan Chacha says during the pilgrimage while he was offering Namaz in Mecca, a strange voice arose inside him. "Since then I have stopped eating beef. It was like paying homage to Hindu brothers. They respected my faith by sending me on Hajj."

Khan Chacha tells the Humans of Bombay that since that day he has not eaten beef. "Many years have passed, but since then I still pray for the cows before starting my work."

"Sometimes people ask, why did you have to change your food habits for others? So I just tell them one thing over the years these people accepted me as I am.

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“They sent me to the Hajj without asking me questions. It’s my way of showing gratitude to them. When you step out of the logic of religion, everything starts to make sense to you,” he says.