Monkey business, mismatched slippers and food stories

Monkey Business

I looked up at the Monkey. The Monkey looked back nibbling at one end of my spectacles. No hostilities, no dirty looks from both sides. I looked at it and it seemed to be watching me. It knew the glasses were mine. It sat on the edge of the roof in full view while another bigger monkey sat a little away watching everything and not interfering.

“Take off your glasses, take care of your glasses and mobiles”. Every person we passed by warned us. We were in Vrindavan, a place where Monkeys are tough negotiators and have eyes only for a person’s glasses or mobiles. We had finished Darshan of Bankey Bihari and were heading towards our Car. I had taken off my glasses until we entered the Temple and then I put them on. We had stood close to Banke Bihari and prayed to Him (I saw Krishna). After a good five minutes we made our way to the exit gate and walked out.  A few steps later a Monkey climbed up my shoulder, whisked my glasses and climbed up a building in a heartbeat. I had not even reacted; I had been caught off guard just like my friends.  

The neighboring shopkeeper jumped into the fray. His salesman, a small boy walked out with Frooti and threw it up to the Monkey. The monkey caught it with one hand and sipped it and dangled the glasses with the other. Another Frooti went up, then a Lay’s packet. The Monkey consumed everything but didn’t return the glasses. What did it want?  We exchanged looks.

A small crowd gathered around. I didn’t want that. I was afraid the Monkey would up the stakes. My friends went looking for the owner of the building. He unlocked the door and walked into the courtyard and tried to chase away the monkey with a stick. It scampered to the side holding my glasses tightly. The owner didn’t want to chase it far away; I would have to say goodbye to my glasses then. He came outside. The Monkey returned to its place.

Tired, the crowd melted. A small boy, a rag picker and his friends came down the road. Someone suggested “ask him to give a Frooti to the Monkey, you will get your glasses.”  I gave him a Frooti. The small boy clambered up an electric pole and gave the Monkey the Frooti. Voila, the Monkey dropped the glasses. What worked? The boy?

Not once did I think I had lost my glasses. But I was immensely grateful to the small boy. I bought the wheat flour he asked for even as he scampered away to wash my glasses in the neighborhood tap. The shopkeeper seemed miffed that his boy had not been able to strike the deal which this boy had. But he was happy I spent money in his shop.

A little later we saw a monkey with a mobile phone and a crowd negotiating with it.

I kept looking for monkeys everywhere and taking off my glasses throughout our stay in Vrindavan except when indoors. Reader, you have been warned, Vrindavan is Monkey land, and they earn their daily bread by seizing human’s glasses and mobiles. Take care of your glasses and mobiles.

Those glasses had been bought expressly for this trip. I wear them today with their edges nibbled by a monkey in Vrindavan. What a souvenir, eh?

Mismatched slippers

“Hey, look at these” I cried as we climbed into an Auto. I pointed at my slippers. Both were black but mismatched! My friends looked at them and tried not to laugh. “It was dark in Sewa Kunj(I saw Krishna), that is why this happened” they consoled. I was shocked. I tried to remember how this had happened. I had worn my left slipper; the right slipper had turned upside down. I turned it and slipped it on and walked out. I seemed to have turned the wrong slipper and had not seen it before wearing them. I had not felt the difference too. I had made a mistake. Now I was engulfed by an overwhelming thought. What would the owner of the wrong slipper do? How will he know he has to match his slipper with mine? Poor guy. This thought bothered me a lot. I have heard of slippers being lost in Temples but what is this called? Am I “slipper” thief?

I left behind this mismatched pair in our room in CRRI guest house in Delhi. How was it viewed by the people there is anybody’s guess.

Food stories

The waiter placed the plate with Red, Green and White Chutneys on the table. We attacked it. It was consumed in a jiffy. He noticed it and brought another. It met the same fate. He brought another one but not before he remarked at our behavior to his colleague. We were in Dasaprakash hotel in Agra and were ravenous. Lunch had been long ago somewhere near Mathura, and it had been a long day.  

We even got to watch Yamuna Aarti (I saw Krishna). Its start astonished us. A huge Hanuman had danced to a Kannada song while a Ram Lalla had stood in the background, smiling. A Kannada song in Agra, we fell off our seats! It was followed by a high-octane Political speech by BJP functionaries. I was stunned, again. I have never heard one before.

Agra, with its metro and 5 Star hotels, surprised me. All the famous National and International Hotel chains had huge hotels here. Agra didn’t feel like a small place like I had imagined. The Taj Mahal had made it a very rich city.  And then Dasaprakash caught our eye.

Dosas finally made their way to our table, we devoured them. We were not looking for South Indian food, but Dasaprakash was hard to resist.

Finding good food had not been a problem on this tour. The North Indian Rotis and subzis had been yummy everywhere. We had slowly realized Dhabas were another name for hotels. They were not the dinghy, shy, seedy-looking shacks on the side of Highways in the South. These were sprawling hotels with Ac rooms and full of families. Like Hotel chains, Dhaba chains too exist, like Shiv XXX, some Divya YYY etc. They served exceptional North Indian food. South Indian food was not up to par, we had stayed away from it as much as possible. Give them a break dear reader. We were in North India and obviously they were not  good with South Indian food. The ghee-soaked Missi Roti near Fatehpur Sikri will never be forgotten. The food was good throughout, so was the walking through the monuments. We walked a good 10+ km every single day.  And ate yummy food throughout. 

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