It is aptly said by an author, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” 

This year a German lady has been awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of our country. What could be the reason? 

Friederike Irina Bruning, a 60-year-old woman lives in India for more than 40 years now. Despite being a German national, she takes care of the cows of our country. What inspired her to stay back in our country and look after the holy animal....

She came to India as a tourist from Berlin in 1978. On her visit to the holy town of Mathura and seeking spiritual blessings, she found a goal in her life. 

Unaware of what the future has in store for her, in search of guidance of a guru, she went to Radha Kund to seek a spiritual mentor.

A turning point that really changed her life was when she came across a calf lying hurt and ignored on the streets. It was badly in need of treatment, she quickly lifted the injured calf, gave the required first aid and took care of it. Then 1 or 2 more cows were bought to her for the treatment and she took care of them as well. This has continued ever since and today the number has reached 1800. She has built the Gaushala, a shelter for cows with her parent's money and takes care of these 1800 cows with the help of 80 people working in here. 

The cows bought here are either wounded or old and abandoned by society as they have passed their milking age. The German Gau Rakshak is lovingly called Sudevi Dasi by the villagers. She purchased many books on cows to take proper care of them and also learned Hindi.

The lack of finances and other circumstances really bother her, but she carries on steadfastly. She started Radha Surabhi Gaushala in Mathura 25 years ago. She is afraid that they are now running out of space and are barely managing their funds. They currently have space only for 1000 to 1200 cows but today they are accommodating almost 1800 cows within the same.... and in addition to this, daily 5 to 6 cows are coming in. She gets some money from Germany by renting a small property that she has in Berlin and the remaining expenditure is managed with some donations. But this is not enough to give the cows proper food and medicine. Their monthly expenses are somewhere around 25 to 30 lakhs. 

She hopes that by honouring her with such a prestigious award, the government will also extend its help to her by providing some resources for her selfless mission. We need more and more people to come forward and support her herculean efforts and spread her vision.