Rhesus Monkeys!
I was in Madras in August this year and my mother-in-law mentioned that windows need to be kept shut as a monkey and its parivaram were doing the rounds. I managed to see the family one day in the trees around the apartment.
I was reminded of the monkey menace when we lived in Cement Nagar. There were several parivarams of the Rheusus monkey in the area, each family dominated by a rouge male. We had 2 coconut trees, a mango tree, a sapota tree, a custard apple tree and a Badam tree in our garden. So we were prime targets and there were quite a few antics.
The monkeys would take great pleasure in drinking all elaneers(tender coconuts) - we would realize the coconuts were all empty & wasted only when they started falling off one by one. And then they would strip the coconut flowers one by one, so no coconuts that season. They would try doing the same with the mango tree and of course as the badam, mango and sapota ripened, they would have a gala time!
Of course, we soon procured a big bamboo stick (about 2-3 metres long) and started chasing them away. Vijayan would make faces at them and they would make faces back at him, but he had the bamboo, so he was King! (Like Singh is King) :)
The monkeys came into the house one day through the windows when we were out. They had entered the bedroom and seeing the mattresses, started playing on them. They managed to tear a small portion. As cotton came out, they got more and more excited and finally the room was full of cotton. When we got back, they had managed to tear almost the entire maatress to bits. And we were greeted with a cotton confetti! Pooh!
An incident which Amma recalls very nicely:
Sekhar was having his lunch one day, he was seated on the floor and enjoying his meal. I was a toddler at that time. As he was eating, a small monkey came into the kitchen and stood behind him, with its arm resting on Sekhar's shoulders. Sekar thinking it was me, kept brushing the hand off. The monkey decided to get serious and bent low to take something from Sekar's plate. That's when Sekhar realized it was a monkey. He gave such a loud shout, the monkey ran away!
Another incident I remember involved my favorite red blouse. A monkey helped itself to my red blouse from the clothesline one day. It managed to wear it correctly and we spotted it admiring itself. Vijayan gave the monkey an old mirror, the monkey took the mirror and saw its own reflection, it was so excited and preened so much and kept looking back at the mirror again and again! It was so sweetly vain! Something we have certainly inherited!
Thangam came to Cement Nagar when I was in class 8th in 1987 and we went to this lovely picnic spot called 'Kalva Bugga'. Kalva Bugga has a nice stream, a forest area around it with vlan kay trees, a temple and lovely elaneer. We both had eleaneer and suddenly a monkey grabbed the coconut from me. I was so schocked, I almost cried!
That was the last time I remember encountering the rhesus, until I studied blood groups. And now when I think about them, it is more with wonder at how skilled they are and how intelligent!
I was reminded of the monkey menace when we lived in Cement Nagar. There were several parivarams of the Rheusus monkey in the area, each family dominated by a rouge male. We had 2 coconut trees, a mango tree, a sapota tree, a custard apple tree and a Badam tree in our garden. So we were prime targets and there were quite a few antics.
The monkeys would take great pleasure in drinking all elaneers(tender coconuts) - we would realize the coconuts were all empty & wasted only when they started falling off one by one. And then they would strip the coconut flowers one by one, so no coconuts that season. They would try doing the same with the mango tree and of course as the badam, mango and sapota ripened, they would have a gala time!
Of course, we soon procured a big bamboo stick (about 2-3 metres long) and started chasing them away. Vijayan would make faces at them and they would make faces back at him, but he had the bamboo, so he was King! (Like Singh is King) :)
The monkeys came into the house one day through the windows when we were out. They had entered the bedroom and seeing the mattresses, started playing on them. They managed to tear a small portion. As cotton came out, they got more and more excited and finally the room was full of cotton. When we got back, they had managed to tear almost the entire maatress to bits. And we were greeted with a cotton confetti! Pooh!
An incident which Amma recalls very nicely:
Sekhar was having his lunch one day, he was seated on the floor and enjoying his meal. I was a toddler at that time. As he was eating, a small monkey came into the kitchen and stood behind him, with its arm resting on Sekhar's shoulders. Sekar thinking it was me, kept brushing the hand off. The monkey decided to get serious and bent low to take something from Sekar's plate. That's when Sekhar realized it was a monkey. He gave such a loud shout, the monkey ran away!
Another incident I remember involved my favorite red blouse. A monkey helped itself to my red blouse from the clothesline one day. It managed to wear it correctly and we spotted it admiring itself. Vijayan gave the monkey an old mirror, the monkey took the mirror and saw its own reflection, it was so excited and preened so much and kept looking back at the mirror again and again! It was so sweetly vain! Something we have certainly inherited!
Thangam came to Cement Nagar when I was in class 8th in 1987 and we went to this lovely picnic spot called 'Kalva Bugga'. Kalva Bugga has a nice stream, a forest area around it with vlan kay trees, a temple and lovely elaneer. We both had eleaneer and suddenly a monkey grabbed the coconut from me. I was so schocked, I almost cried!
That was the last time I remember encountering the rhesus, until I studied blood groups. And now when I think about them, it is more with wonder at how skilled they are and how intelligent!