Everyone feels festive, and rather generous, on an auspicious day…and many people like to tap into this vein of generosity.

Here’s the itenerant with her decorated cow…she walks through the streets on festivals like Sankranti (in fact, this was taken on Ekadasi day, on the 4th of March…the 11th day after the new moon)….calls out to householders that good times are coming. The cow is trained to nod its head to every rhetorical question that her owner asks (“Is prosperity coming to this house? Will happiness rule in this place?”) and when the children come running out to see the colourful spectacle, hopefully, the lady of the house will spare some food, or the master of the house will give a little money…and so another day in the life of the “Good Tidings Woman” passes, with the generosity of the people of the neighbourhood.