Residents Bearing The Brunt Of Monkey Menace
We are all aware, visits from relatives are not always welcome, especially when they happen to be from our simian relatives; the relationship of course is based on what the NCERT books read in our times. Residents of Sushant Lok, all across, have been bearing the brunt of monkey menace and have attempted various methods, although only with partial success.
This month an unfortunate incident of a child being bit by a monkey in Ivy, brought the focus again on how to keep the monkeys off the walled precincts.
To begin with, there were elaborate WhatsApp discussions, with the whole gamut of emotions into play; empathy, sympathy, fear, anger, and of course inclusion, kicking in the woke, man vs wild debate, and then the solutions started pouring in – Barbed attacks over barbed fences, should the entry and exit points be blocked to deter the monkeys or not cause trauma (to the monkeys) and make exit easy, langurwala or langur cutouts, peaceful existence or peaceful coexistence!
At long last, the IVY RWA chalked out a few ‘mutually acceptable’ measures and it was decided, that the entry points would be ascertained and frequency of guard patrols increased around the area, posters of langurs would be placed to deter the bandars and guards would be provided with BB guns to intimidate the intruders.
With all the measures in place, it’s yet to be seen how much of this ‘Trick & Threat’ strategy works. Meanwhile, the occasional langur stares fiercely at you from the boundary wall, making you wonder, aren’t we questioning the intelligence of our simian siblings!
by Renu Dwivedi (The Ivy, 98100 08831)
