Monkeys seem to know how exactly to snatch food from the right bag.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY
Monkeys are an integral part of the IIT-Madras campus. They are everywhere… jumping from one banyan tree to another. I came to IIT along with my daughter Avani to start on research about 18 months ago.
The day Avani stepped on the campus, she was very happy to see the wildlife: deer, monkeys, squirrels, sparrows. But eventually her excitement dwindled when it came to monkeys. They were a constant threat to her lunch box and water bottle, pursuing her from all sides on her way back from school. The school is located within the campus. She would come out of the gated space of the quarters and scan the entire area. Avani can spot any threat even at a far distance.
When no threat seemed to be on the horizon, she would start her walk to school with the lunch kit hidden behind her bag. The monkeys could sense which bag carried food. They never attacked backpacks with laptops or books. They seemed to know the colour, pattern and size of lunch kits that were ordered on Amazon. Many of the kids had similar bags. We saw different coloured kits of similar makes hanging from banyan trees in and around the school. But even after much precaution, Avani’s kit was snatched away by the monkeys one afternoon. She cried her heart out because it was her favourite kit that her achan had bought her .
People tried to comfort her. An old man, who ran an ironing shop near the school, told her, “Monkeys don’t have appa and amma to buy such a nice kit. Let them take it.” That didn’t console her. She started crying even harder. The old man went to the banyan tree where the monkeys had taken her kit. It was not torn. The zip had been carefully opened, the food from the lunch box taken out and the kit discarded.
The old man managed to retrieve the lunch box and kit. Avani stopped crying. She smiled and said, “You are so nice. Appooppanu nandri (thanks, grandad).” Vanakkam and nandri were the only words she knew in Tamil then.
After a few weeks, Avani’s friend Kunji came back from school with a very important piece of information. Monkeys are our forefathers, she said. Kunji and her friends went and asked everyone, “Aunty, is your grandmother a monkey? Do you have a photo?” We couldn’t furnish any such evidence. But they seemed to be convinced about this since the information came from the teacher. The kids believed every word their teachers said. But this thought brought about a great change in their attitude towards monkeys. Avani told me, “Amme, do you know why the monkey snatched my lunch kit that day? Because he knew I was his relative. Didn’t you tell me I can be completely myself and behave in the way I want with family? Monkey kuttan was doing exactly that. I am not sad about it anymore!”
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