Monkey Mischief

The monkeys are it again. They’re jumping from roof to roof, uprooting plants, raiding kitchens and teasing dogs. I mustn’t forget to mention their passion of running off with clothes drying on the clothesline - socks, shirts, blouses and even handkerchiefs. Just the other day one of the naughtier ones took off with a neighbouring aunty’s saree while the poor lady screamed, shouted and begged for the monkey to stop. The same monkey, I heard was seen admiring herself at another neighbour’s looking glass above the sink where her husband shaves his chin every morning. Imagine the shock the poor man got when he went out of habit to smarten himself up in preparation for his office only to see the vain monkey admiring her reflection. She apparently grinned at him in the mirror and then turned around to flash her breathtaking smile. The neighbour who got a magnificent view of her yellow teeth... was horrified, screamed and rushed to complain to his wife who was preparing aaloo paranthas for his breakfast. His two children had a wonderful time laughing at the monkey. I’m sure they had many tall tales to narrate to their friends at school that day.

The families of monkeys preferred to walk to and fro through my terrace. They hardly ever halted in their onward journey. Once, two of them stopped to have a battle of words, I’m sure they did have a few hot words. Whether they used abusive language or not I’ve no idea (I can’t say as I don’t speak their language) but there was a lot of chattering from both sides with a occasional excited screech. The verbal war carried on for quite some time after which they both walked off, hopefully the matter was sorted out.

You must be wondering where all this is going. Let me tell you, just last evening I returned from the market with a basketful of vegetables, you know the likes – cauliflower, cabbage, green chillies, bottle gourd, carrots, radish, spinach, Indian gooseberries, ginger, coriander and lemons. And, you all are aware of the Covid protocol, right? It includes washing everything you bring home, thoroughly! So, I was going through the drill, sitting on the floor in the open veranda... patiently washing each vegetable, each leaf dutifully, with my nephew, Ethan not making himself useful at all. Well, he preferred to settle down to a feast of freshly washed ruby red strawberries. Didn’t I tell you he was home with his parents for the Festive Season? No? I guess I must’ve forgotten. Anyway, so I was there busy washing the vegetables and handing them over to my sister and brother-in-law, who were devotedly making short trips to the kitchen and were arranging the vegetables on a cloth to dry off.

I was about to finish the Herculean task, only the cucumbers and tomatoes remained to be rinsed when I happened to look at the water spilled on the floor. My heart nearly stopped beating, my breath froze in my throat and I stared wide-eyed at a monkey reflected in the water! And, will you believe it; the monkey above all things had the audacity to grin at me, when I turned to look up at her staring at me from the parapet of the terrace. I assumed this was that same monkey who had borrowed the neighbour’s saree. I was terrified that she would adopt the mannerisms of the neighbour, that of, borrowing onions, potatoes and sugar, so I made a run for the door with the tub of vegetables, the water sloshing about. I remember calling out to my sister who was walking towards me for the next batch of washed vegetables, to shut and lock the door.

I must admit I was pretty miffed when my nephew, owing to the hullabaloo, put in an appearance just then and was highly amused by the narration. He ran to the screen door to see the said monkey chattering animatedly with another monkey on the neighbour’s wall and all the while looking at our house. I’m sure they both were discussing me and my unwillingness to lend them some vegetables. Well, they may be plotting revenge for all I know or just indulging in some neighbourhood gossip, after all the monkey had chosen to keep that saree! Anyway, I hope monkeys too make new year resolutions and keep them, though the owner of the lost saree rarely manages to keep hers.

This reminds me, the New Year is here! Here’s wishing you all healthy, happy and prosperous 365 days! Thank you for reading me and following my humble posts, I hope you’ll continue to keep me in your favour and be gracious to the work of my quill (err... I mean laptop). Happy Reading and Happy New Year!