Apes and Humans It was a muggy evening, with dusk about to set in. There were people in the park but not too many. Some were jogging and some were walking. In the park, there is a diagonal path to the oval circumference. I was jogging along the park towards one end, when I suddenly saw a troop of monkeys on the path. Now, I’ll have you know that I’m not scared (I’m a Jat plus I was brought up in a boarding school!)but discretion seemed the better part of valour. So I turned around and went in the opposite direction. Of course I behaved very chivalrously to every one I met on the way back (maybe, again due to the two reasons mentioned above!), telling them about the presence of monkeys back there. As expected, all of them decided to retrace their steps. Now comes the interesting bit. Our group had swelled to about 15-20, when suddenly we saw a similar sized group coming form the opposite direction. And they had exactly the same chivalrous message to give us – turn back for there are monkeys further on! Boy, was there pandemonium! A few able bodied among us immediately started picking up sticks that could be used against the monkeys. A few of the smarter ones got their cell phones out and stated calling up the police and other people. But then there was a wise old man amongst us who said, “Friends, lets not get too panicky and just hold together and go out as a group and the monkeys definitely will not trouble us. I’m closer to monkeys because of my advanced age – those of you who believe in Darwin will see the joke in that! I know for sure they will have a laugh at us and try to provoke us into panicking but remember do not fall for that! Walk steadily and you will not come to any harm.” A few of those present had a few misgivings about what the old man said but by and large the other members assuaged their misgivings. And then we all walked. What the old man had said was just exactly how it happened. A few of the larger monkeys bared their teeth and jumped aggressively at us, but the outer periphery of the group remained calm. That got us through. When we neared the gate to the forest, I could hear people saying it wasn’t so difficult after all, all that was needed was steady nerves and it was good thing the old man had happened to be there. Those of us brave enough went off for another round, this time on the outer periphery! As I was jogging along, I swear I could hear two monkeys snigger at the humans’ plight! PS : The police came an hour later!They said they had to get the pizzas and eat them before they became cold!! PPS: Not all parts of this story are true!!!
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:23:26 +0000