German woman turns saviour for abandoned cows

MATHURA:As many as 1,200 cows, mostly abandoned, sick and injured, have found a saviour in 59- year-old German national Friederike Irina Bruning.

When she landed in India from Berlin in 1978 as a tourist, she had no inkling of the life destiny had in store for her.

“I came as a tourist and understood that to progress in life, you need a guru. I went in search of a guru in Radha Kund,” she said while narrating her journey in Mathura.

She then bought a cow at the request of a neighbour and since then everything in her life changed.

Bruning purchased books on cows and learnt Hindi. “I saw that people abandon their cows when they grow old and stop giving milk,” she said. Fondly called Sudevi Mataji, she started her cowshed known as ‘Surbhai Gauseva Niketan’.

“They are like my children and I cannot leave them,” she said. “Today, I have 1,200 cows and calves. I do not have sufficient place to accommodate more . But still when somebody leave a sick or injured cow outside my ashram, I have to take her in,” she said.

When asked about finances, she said as much as Rs 22 lakh per month was required for medicines, foodgrain and salaries of about 60 workers. “I have some property in Berlin. I get rent from that. I am not getting any help from the local authorities, but somehow managing my work,” she said.