A MONKEY AND A MEMORY....

Can a title be weirder than this....? You must be wondering, what sort of a memory is related to a monkey..? But, I have one. Sweet and special. Now this memory is not one of those which I recall when sitting alone, thinking, and smiling. Nope. It’s one of those which is etched up in your mind, somewhere far behind, an area which is not easily, readily accessible. The presence/remembrance of which is entirely situational or circumstantial. My idea of writing this post is not to confuse you but to share with you such an incident which was somewhere in my mind but needed a trigger to get resurfaced.

Now, without much ado I would straightway jump to the fact......

I was reading a book in which there was a mention of monkeys. Now whenever I read a book, each line of the story forms a picture in my mind. While reading, I simultaneously keep getting this pictorial view of the person, location described, scene, a room....... so, when the monkey thing appeared in the book. I got this picture of a monkey. Not just any monkey, but a special one with whom I had a face-to face meet some 15 years ago.




*FLASHBACK*

The story henceforth continues in my mind.
Once upon a time, in a place where I lived in my childhood, there was this monkey, who had lost his mental balance and was on a rampage (literally). (And, no I haven’t been bitten by the INDIA NEWS or IBN-7 news bug). This is a true story. This monkey, who had been given a name ROMEO, had created a panic amongst the people. He used to bite children, small innocent children and there had been a number of cases. Everyone was wary, little children- including me, were naturally petrified.

One fine day, I was playing on the terrace, dancing in my mum’s dupatta and her shoes. When I spotted the dreadful monkey some two, three houses away. I still remember and can swear on it that he saw me too (getting Goosebumps, even now). I immediately ran towards my door and could sense him following me. And I wasn’t wrong, the moment I reached inside the safety ofof  home, he was there right after me waiting outside the door. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes....... time passed slowly and he stayed glued there. When I couldn’t take it anymore sitting jailed inside, I picked up the doormat and stuck it on the mesh door, in order to shoo him away. Far from getting shooed away, he got wild and angry. Big time. He started jumping, getting at the door handle (which was bolted....). and I merely some 5,6 years of age was scared like hell. I don’t remember much after this apart from the fact that the monkey left at some point of time and I keep crying, refusing to move, eat, go out...

I stayed like that till late in the evening, when finally papa came back. He was told the whole ordeal, with me crying in the background. My dad took me in his arms and carried me outside, ignoring my protests, shouts and cries. I had this notion stuck in my mind that the monkey was hiding somewhere, within the premises of my house, waiting to attack me. My dad carried me up the terrace and explained an important lesson to me.... I remember the exact worlds





“God has created the world for both animals and humans. Both have an equal write to live. If someone hurts you, you will protect yourself, won’t you..? Similarly animals too have to protect themselves. That’s why, bee stings, snake bites, to protect .If you leave them in peace, they will do you no harm. You were a threat to the monkey, what he did was so protect himself”.
Slowly the fear reduced in me and I enjoyed the breezy dark night with my dad. And yeah, came back down on my own feet.


Inspite of the number of years that have passed since then, this chapter of my life is so clearly etched up in my memory and will always be. And I will never forget, what my dad taught me that day. Since then ,and even now, I am never too scared of any animal. Errr ummm... apart from cockroaches... well ... that I really can’t help, they are soo ewww...!!