“There is a monkey on the balcony”, exclaimed my help from the kitchen. Before I could go to the kitchen, our dog Marshall, was there, engaged in a standoff with the monkey across the kitchen door. The monkey divided its attention between Marshall and the bunch of bananas hanging just inside the window. The antics of the monkey were delightful and Insta-worthy!!. But this situation is not a reel on social media …this is real. I cannot make it disappear by simply scrolling down. My mind is in full action mode now. Should I feed the monkey with a banana? Will this encourage it to visit daily? What if it turns out aggressive? …
Being a member of the RWA group, I have been reading about the disturbing acts of monkeys in different areas of the locality on Whatsapp. The monkey would destroy/ransack whatever was outside of the closed doors and spread the garbage in the polybags. Sometimes pictures were posted where monkeys had pooed on the stairs etc. There has been an outcry for RWA to catch the monkey and reports about unsuccessful attempts too were circulated.
So I called up the maintenance office of our society and apprised them of the monkey on the balcony. They promised to send help. Now the monkey is a wild animal, it is not going to stay in one place for long. It simply wants to feed itself and since its natural habitat is taken over by human habitation, it is forced to sweep these localities for survival. Monkeys are a bigger menace to agricultural crops but in residential localities, we have our walls to keep us and our stuff safe. Since the ecological balance is off, these wandering animals will be sighted around.
I called the Maintenance office again and realized that the monkey catching team is under MCG, and it is not very easy to mobilize them into action; there are procedures. By the time the ball starts rolling; the monkey decides to change the scenery.
Just like that, my problem is in somebody else’s balcony … real life can at times follow reels
by Dr Geeta Dua (CD-49, FF, Malibu Towne; 9464911108)
