Metal Lords

Rapid urbanization is causing humans to encroach more and more on forest cover, causing wild animals to compete for space with humans. Monkeys are considered holy by Hindus because of their religious beliefs, which add to the problem. Many Indians feed monkeys with nuts and bananas and the very thought of harming a simian would raise an outcry. Sometimes the situation gets out of control, as the deputy mayor of Delhi found out at the cost of his life two years back.

The politician was reading his morning newspaper in his balcony when a group of monkeys raided his house. He tried to chase them away with a stick, lost balance and toppled over, causing head injuries which caused his untimely demise. Though there isn’t anything inherently funny in such tragedy, the story received wide publicity on the internet.

The Delhi administration after many a brainstorming session arrived at a solution to the problem. They decided to hire properly trained bigger monkeys known as langurs to chase the comparatively smaller monkeys. I say comparatively because the so called smaller monkeys can give a decent fight to an adult human. Only time can tell whether the solution will be a feasible one as langurs are not naturally enemies of the smaller monkeys. If the langurs and their smaller cousins sign a peace deal one day it will be curtains for Delhi’s monkey policy and the officials will have an ever bigger mess on their hands.