Pursuit of Excellence

This is a story of an individual whose life has been shaped by the desire to follow his dreams and heart and this odyssey into his life gives us an opportunity to know this real life 'Rancho' whose support from '3 idiots' and Amir has forever changed the course of his life and has inspired many more.

"It would be only unfair to say that anyone could milk a cow for milking cow is not just a work of art but is of, as well, passion, diligence and sacrificial emotions". The motto of "moo- lets milk cows", the milking company owned by Gajodhar Ramhilawan whose dedication and pursuit of excellence started 10 years ago in a remote village of Bihar, Bailganj.

Born to Ramhilawan Pyarelal and Kalavati in poverty, Gajodhar was the only son of milkman Ramhilawan . Ramhilawan was an ambitious person but little could he do with his own life and now he wanted to see all his dreams come true through his son. He would go miles delivering milk just to facilitate good education to Gajodhar. He wanted him to go to IITs and one day work for NASA since, apparently according him, NASA was run by Indians.

But Gajodhar was born different(not gay). He had a different eye for the cows than his father had. As a kid he had spent more time playing with calves and cows than with other kids and as he grew up it became apparent that he had no inclination whatsoever toward education. There would be frequent arguments between him and his father.

(Its hard to conceive that they are conversing in English but bear with me, its funnier this way)

Gajodhar would say "But dad you don't give its due importance to the respectable profession of milkman"

His father would say "My ass respectable profession. You think I like it?.. I do it only for you so that you can one day work for NASA. I hate milking cows and even when I try so hard I can hardly manage anything. These cows just dont give enough milk.. as if they are holding back. But I and your mom still manage .. just for you.. and you find no interest in studying"

Gajodhar would say "You have got it all wrong dad. It is love that the cows want. To milk a cow is not a mechanical thing as much as it is sentimental. You need to put emotions in it.. you need to understand them and then you will see the beauty of milking. It is like making love dad.. not like having sex.. you need to understand and grasp the art of milking and not just go by books as rest of my friends do in school"

Eventually Ramhilawan had given up on Gajodhar and Gajodhar had started doing his wonders in the barn. With his touch, love and gentle milking the milk produce has increased more than ever and now his dad had no way to complain although he was entirely bitter about it for he had seen his dreams come true through him.

Right around this time when Amir Khan was just roaming around in random places for the publicity of his movie '3 idiots', he came to Bailganj. It was Gajodhar's lucky day. Although in a small village of Bailganj none had heard of '3 idiots' or its story, his interaction with Ramhilawan turned out to be a boon for Gajodhar.

Ramhilawan told Amir "Sirji, talk some sense into my son. He doesnt want to study at all and he says that all he wants to do is to milk cows. Now you tell me have you ever heard of someone who wants to spend rest of his life milking cows"

Amir replied "Dekhiye, this is what I have tried to address in my next film. Pursue excellence. Maybe he will be a very bad engineer and never work for NASA but if you let him milk cows he may one day 'doodh ki nadiyaan bahayega'"

Ramhilawan got angry and shouted "sathiya gayan ho aap. Kaun sasura aapko filmo me rakhata hai"

But after much arguments Ramhilawan gave up, once again, and Gajodhar took over his dad's business. But all he was interested in was milking cows and soon his pursuit of excellence in 'how to milk the cows' got him fame. Now everybody in the village or even the near by villages wanted Gajodhar to milk their cows. It would be safe to say that by the tender age of 18, there weren't any cows, in the vicinity of 100kms, that he hadn't milked. Sometimes he would milk two cows simultaneously and yet none would get jealous. He had mastered the art of cow-milking. And thus was started his servicing conglomeration of milking cows, "moo- let's milk cows". Cows in his barn were as healthy as a hippo and the barn grew everyday.

Soon his fame became nationwide and he had been invited to places to educate people about "milking cows". He started offering a course on the same... "cow-milking 101". It was established on very simple principles:

"
Name your cow

Buy her cow jeweleries from time to time

Talk to her while milking her

Be gentle while milking, don't be rough.

And talk to her after milking
"

Inspired by this real life story Ram Gopal Verma, known for making eccentric movies, has decided to make a movie on Gajodhar's life "What cows want" along the lines of a similar movie starring Mel Gibson.

Although unfortunately we were not able to secure any time slot, for our interview, from his busy cow-milking schedule, Gajodhar did reply to our email, expressing his gratitude to '3 idiots'. "If it were not Amir and '3 idiots' very few cows would be happy today".

[PS: No offense meant and if feelings are hurt by the post above I apologize]