Chennai Diary #No_Monkey_Business_This Well, the euphoria of the temporal respite brought about by the rains is over and heat and dust now rule the streets of this otherwise friendly city. One returns home in the evening after toiling through the day and gets that Good Bad Ugly-Clint Eastwood feel but that is just a figment of imagination. Except for Ugly!!! Maybe its because of this dust emanating from the streets that my throat has developed a problem and Ive started to sound like the Late Amrish Puri (may his soul rest in peace). Or maybe Im too sly to blame the chilled beer and cigarettes for this particular ailment. The result is that I can sing no more, which I used to do daily much to the chagrin of my neighbours. From bad to worse, eh !!! Meanwhile, the guitar stares at me blankly from a corner in the room. So, one afternoon I go to a pharmacist and ask for some medication for the obvious sore throat. While I wait for him to fetch the medicines, I see a young fellow with a bandaged hand. I peek at his prescription and notice in block letters MONKEY BITE. I look at his bandaged hand, his pile of medicines, the gloomy look on his face and feel sorry for him and curse that monkey. Poor chap. I come home and freshen up. After lunch, I stand outside on the verandah for the customary smoke with a newspaper in hand. I can hear the crows creating a commotion even as I focus my attention on the newspaper. Then I almost crap my pants when I see a solitary monkey appear at the corner of the railing of the verandah. He sits in the corner for a while and then saunters towards where I am standing. I look for an escape but the wires which I had tied around the pipe in the verandah to hang my underpants prevents me from going any further. Hence, I am stuck in the middle. I think of the poor guy with bandaged hand and his pile of medicines. This must be the same monkey, I guess. As I push myself against the wall in fear with the newspaper over my mouth, the rascal walks casually on the iron railing towards me, ignoring the raucous crows, like a celebrity ignoring the paparazzi. He looks evil as I can see him moving his mouth in a chewing motion like someone chewing gum. I push myself further against the wall as he comes near me. He gives me a careless look as he crosses me. This fellow goes past me without doing anything. Apparently, he just wanted to be left alone. I heave a sigh of relief as I watch his red butt disappear at the end of the verandah. While I have had encounters with simians before but this one scared me the most. I thank Hanumanji for his divine intervention in saving his bhakt. Later when I tell my friends about this encounter, they say, Ek ghusaa maarna tha saale ko !!!. But I dont think it would have helped.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:27:47 +0000
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