Those who are especially generous will be saved from the cycle of birth and death and find the elusive stairway to heaven.

The woman sitting beside the `miraculous cow' whacks the animal with a cane whenever it tries to sit. And with good reason. ``If she sits how can the people make out her extra feet,'' asks Bhagabai Bhosale, a native of Solapur, who with husband and sons has roamed all over Maharashtra and Western Madhya Pradesh in their rickety little caravan.

Outside the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation on Friday, the family hands out grubby chits of paper, which claim the `go-rath is on a pilgrimage to Dwarka, Jagannath, Puri, Rameshwaram and Badrinath'.

The older son Pandurang(21) rides the tricycle while the younger one, Dhondu (16), pokes his hand out for a collection. The father, Ramchandra Bhosale (who calls himself a `gosevak'), drives the bullock cart and handles pesky persons who get nosey. Persistent queries about the animal are met with rude dismissal.

The animal, at first glance, appears to be a freak of nature. With six legs - two of them protruding from its derriere - what else can it be? Willing to talk if he is bribed with a bundle of `beedis', Pandurang divulges the family's little secret. He claims the `miracle' is man-made. ``The limbs are attached from a calf killed by quacks in the village,'' he says, adding that many cows die because the graft is not accepted. The limbs therefore rot. But we have to do it to feed ourselves,'' he whispers furtively, making sure his brother and parents are not eavesdropping. He says their cash-cow brings in Rs 100-300 a day from bored onlookers tired of their banal surroundings.

His father bought the animal froma dealer in extraordinary cattle at Akkalkot on the Karnataka border, for Rs 2,500, he reveals, adding that they ``invested'' another 5,000 to acquire an old tricycle and bullock-cart.

He admits they have been nowhere near the four pilgrimage centres mentioned in the literature as `advertised' since the caravan began its tired journey only four years ago.

``We just keep moving from place to place,'' Pandurang reveals. ``We have also avoided returning to our village as my father will find it difficult to face all the creditors from whom he raised the money.''

Having left at least one of his benefactors bewildered, Pandurang returns to his loudspeaker. Of course, the `miraculous cow' is no hybrid Dolly, genetically tailored to a T. But a veterinarian, Dr Narayan Chariar, told Express Newsline that it is difficult to believe that these cows are surgically designed. ``Considering the skill and advanced levels of technical inputs required it is impossible that quacks can manage such intricate micro-surgery.Any such grafted limb would begin to rot in matter of hours,'' he says. The animals are freaks and are exploited commercially.

However, the laws of probability make the conundrum even more baffling. Chariar says the probability is about one cattlehead in a lakh being a freak, and given the number the these animals doing the rounds, it is a mystery where so many come from. ``The matter needs more investigation before anything can be said conclusively,'' he says.

Meanwhile, the head of the Mumbai chapter of the Sangh Parivar's Goraksha Samiti, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, claims he is ignorant of the phenomenon. ``The samiti deplores those who use the same Hindutva that we use to further `go-seva' to exploit the `go-mata'".

He also promises to take up the matter with the government. But Bhagabai couldn't care less. The few coins that Dhondu has extracted from irritated benefactors must suffice for the time being, before the curious audience gets too curious. The motley party rolls on, leaving behind a trail ofquestions.

The cynical Mumbaikar is perhaps inured to the mysteries of nature. Even freaks do not rouse much curiosity any more. So why not conjure up another marvel? Why not spin a tale about some fancy quackery? And hey, why not throw in some hush-hush advertising by word of mouth? After all, collecting alms is a competitive business. Well, it worked, didn't it?