Bullock Man with Oliva Newton-John - Television Program on New Govardhan Farm Cow Protection in Australia

Documentary on the cow protection and bullock training program at New Goverdhan, the Hare Krishna farm community in Australia. Features Lagudi das with introduction by Olivia Newton-John.
Hello everyone, I'm Olivia Newton-John. Welcome to the show.
Twenty years ago, Lugudi Das decided to change tracks and it's putting back in touch with some old friends.
Lugudi believes the way of the bullock is the path to inner peace.
In Krishna circles, Lugudi's known as a master of the bullock men.
This is the bullock's lot in a Krishna lifestyle. They are the beasts of burden. And as Lugudi will tell you, they're happiest when they're working.
A tiny man with an enormous spirit, Lugudi Das is bursting with energy, enthusiasm and drive.
I have a tendency to be very active.
As a young boy, I used to ride horses all day, play, run athletic for 20 miles a day.
Lugudi's barely a metre and a half tall, just on five feet. But to these lumbering giants, he's a man of stature.
This is Govinda. Good boy, Govinda.
He's a nice boy. First bullock I yoke on this place, very quiet. And he teaches other ones. First I yoke everybody with him. He's not too big, not too small, he's strong.
Lugudi follows the path of Krishna. He and his bullocks belong to the Hare Krishna farming community near Moolambar on Australia's New South Wales coast.
And then when I came here, I was 40 years old, 42. So they said, 'Please Lugudi, try to do something with bullocks, try to yoke them a little bit, try to show the people a good example.' Okay, good boy.
His example was so good it earned him a global reputation.
In Krishna circles, Lugudi's known as a master of the bullock yoke.
But then he's always had a trainer's touch.
He's got the record. Gunsend, the greatest horse in this country, has won the money.
Far swifter than any working steer, the great Australian racehorse of the early 70s, Gunsend.
Here's Gunsend going out after the F-Better.
Gunsend, he's quite getting at it. Two-week hold down the outside of Gunsend. Gunsend got up and won twice in a second.
By the champion's side was an immigrant strapper, a Croatian named Andrei Tadrik.
Andrei was working for his trainer's ticket when he got a little too close to one of Gunsend's stablemates.
At the cost of a handful of teeth, Lugudi gained enlightenment.
He abandoned the sport of kings for the life of a peasant, tending a sacred animal.
On a neighbouring patch, a younger devotee has also spent years turning cattle into workers.
He's been at it a little longer than I have. And we both have our different techniques.
And I owe a lot to Lugudi.
But still we're individuals, and we have our different ways of doing things.
Lugudi is very systematic with his bullocks. And he doesn't let them get away with anything. So he has a more sort of stern way of dealing with the bullocks, and that's needed.
My way, well, my way is not a very good way. I'm a little sentimental. But I get the job done.
Good boy.
You'd never guess that Gopinath is in his early forties. He puts his well-being down to a strict vegetarian diet, worship, celibacy and hard work. He spends just about every daylight hour with his bullocks.
If your faith demands that you respect and revere these animals, then you think the last thing you should be doing is shackling them to a plough and driving them through a muddy field.
But this is the bullock's lot in a Krishna lifestyle. They are the beasts of burden. And as Lugudi will tell you, they're happiest when they're working.
Apart from a little honest toil, they do lead a pretty pushy life. They're the best fed cattle in the country. They're never going to end up in an abattoir. And if they really do put their back in, there's a very attractive retirement plan.
Old Jagat's more the lord of leisure these days.
In human terms, he's an arthritic 90-year-old. Jagat has a private paddock and will be pampered for the rest of his life.
For the Hare Krishnas and their religious cousins in India, the Hindu, the bullock's as relevant today as ever.
With the same passion they show in the field, Lugudi and Gopinath show up every day at dawn prayer ceremonies.
The animals take their place among the other days.
They're given offerings of food and flowers.
Here the importance of the cows and the bulls reaches everyone.
Few though take that spirit into the field, even though the bullocks have driven the farm towards self-sufficiency.
Lugudi and Gopinath worry that when they pass, so too will their skills.
We don't expect everyone to get enthusiastic and involved in it. They keep looking at it and thinking, well that looks like hard work, but for us it's very enjoyable.
As time goes on, people are realising more and more that sustainable agriculture is not a fact, cannot happen without the use of animals.
And out of all the animals, the bull and the cow are the most valuable in human society.