It was a quiet summer afternoon. I was alone at home relaxing in the lobby when commotion in the backyard caught my attention.
Alarmed, I peeped from the window of the back room. Guess, what did I see? Half a dozen monkeys descended on my back yard! A couple of monkeys were swinging frantically on the tree, while others were jumping and hopping around. One knock from a monkey had potatoes and onions tumbling out of the basket lying in the courtyard. As if that was not enough, I was in for a bigger shock when I saw a big, ferocious monkey, with a baby clinging to her, marching towards the refrigerator in the veranda. I fail to understand how the monkey knew that eatables were stored in the fridge and how it was to be accessed . But right in front of my eyes, the monkey opened the main door of the fridge, deftly picked up an egg from the egg tray and disappeared from my sight only to appear again to collect the remaining eggs one by one. It came as a surprise to me that monkeys eat eggs. I always thought monkeys are herbivorous animals. Could it be, like many of us, monkeys are ‘eggitarians’ who claim to be vegetarians but do not mind eating eggs?
Then out came the vegetable-fruit trolley from the triple door refrigerator and the monkeys feasted on the fruits first. They would pick up a mango, enjoy the treat and again dive into the fridge to have their next pick. Once they finished all the mangoes, oranges and bananas, vegetables became their next target. The veggies stacked in different bags were pulled out of the vegetable basket and scattered around. In front of my eyes the monkeys were mercilessly throwing the stuff around but I could do nothing. They tore the beans bag and ‘spilled the beans’ (literally) on the floor. The monkeys seemed to fancy tomatoes and relished cucumber, but the thing in which they showed utter disinterest was ginger. I saw the ginger bag pulled out of the vegetable trolley and torn to shreds, but the ginger pieces remained intact. No wonder there is an idiom in Hindi, ‘Bandar kya jane adrak ka swad?’(What does a monkey know about the taste of ginger?)
I could not be a mute spectator to this broad day loot. All along I was screaming and shouting but the monkeys refused to budge. They were determined to loot my refrigerator. I tried my level best to shoo the simians away, banged the door, tried to frighten them but nothing worked. I felt helpless unable to prevent the daring robbery by the monkey brigade.
After having eaten to their heart’s fill, when the moneys eventually did leave, not because of my efforts but on their own, I heaved a sigh of relief. Relief, despite the fact that the monkeys left the backyard in a mess-broken branches, torn bags, egg shells with their messy residue, banana peels, mango seeds and half-eaten vegetables.
(Published in Hindustan Times on July 4, 2012
