MONKEY HUNTING

[Pravin Kumar]

Was in Bangalore a couple of months back and went over to see a dear cousin of mine. “Where’s Mervin?” I asked his wife Pam.

“Gone to catch monkeys!” she said.

“Monkeys!” I exclaimed and she giggled to see my astonished face. I’d known my cousin from the time we were kids; he a little older than me and had watched from afar as he flew his model aero- planes in a field, or involved in other monkey tricks but catching a monkey was something new.

                       I went across to his factory and found him with the government authorized monkey catcher, “Monkey’s made a nuisance of himself!” he exclaimed to me, “so we wrote to the government and they’ve sent this guy over!”

                       He didn’t look any like a monkey catcher. “Monkeys have muscle!” I said knowingly, “They’re dangerous!”

“This guy says not to worry, he’s caught thousands!”

                       I wondered how this small insignificant fellow was going to overcome a monkey and I waited.

                       From on top of his cycle carrier, he brought a box with an opening at the top, big enough for a monkey to slide its hand in. Inside the box were some nuts!”

“The guy’s nuts!” I said scornfully.

“Wait sir!” said the monkey man and placed the box on top of the compound wall below a tree where the creature was supposed to be. And we waited.

                      “Monkey!” shouted some kids nearby and I watched the huge simian jump from tree to wall, put his hand easily into the slit in the box, grab the nuts inside and then try to get back, but he couldn’t. The box shook while the monkey tried to free his hand.

“Pull out your hand stupid!” I whispered.

“It can’t!” said the monkey man next to me.

“What do you mean?” I asked amazed.

“The opening allows the monkey to slide its hand in, but its too small for the fist to come out!”

“Why doesn’t it let the nuts go!” I whispered.

“It won’t,” said the monkey man as he approached the monkey, threw an empty sack on it, caught it and caged it.

                     I walked over to the cage and looked in at the frightened creature, “If you’d let go the nuts you could have escaped!” I whispered.

                     We walked back home, my cousin and myself, “How was the monkey hunt?” asked Pam.

“Bob’s a bit pensive!” joked my cousin.

“Isn’t the monkey like us?” I asked.

“Whoa! Whoa!” shouted Mervin, “now he’s becoming like Harbhajan and calling us names!”

“How like us?” asked Pam.

“We all hang on to some nuts, either our past or something or other, which prevents us from going forward in life!”

“And,” said my cousin, “Those nuts trap us for life..!”

[starsign20002000]

That was good Pravin, Thanks for sharing.

[karlenespellman]

Very good,
Thanks

[tourbi]

Thank you