Puneites go bananas and nuts over Monkeys

Puneites go bananas and nuts over Monkeys
NAMITA SHIBAD

PUNE, MARCH 14: On Monday morning, Pune had some unusual guests. Some 15 to 20 langoors descended on the busy Sassoon Hospital chowk. Initially, they were not noticed. It was only when some people started offering them bananas that a moderately large crowd gathered to witness the strange exchange of gifts.

According to Abdul Khan who sells tea outside the hospital, these monkeys are regular visitors to the chowk. Says he, "they have visited this place about four times in the past two months. In fact, I have noticed that they always stay the night and leave only the next morning."

Seems like Pune is becoming eco-friendly. How else does one explain the regular visits of the langoors? However, the monkeys meant brisk business for Abida Khan who sells bananas and groundnuts. All thanks to the 15 to 20 monkeys who were hanging around the trees in the Sassoon Hospital compound and the doctors' quarters on the opposite side.

Lapping up all the attention they were getting, all these friendly monkeys had to do to delight the small crowd of 30 to 40 passersby was to accept their offerings. The flavour of the first half hour from 12:15 p.m. onwards was bananas.

Abida was, of course, thrilled. Soon, they were tired of bananas and hinted that nuts would be a welcome diversion. The biggest one of them all, a female who had a week-old baby clinging to her, went towards Abida's wares and picked out a few groundnuts. That was it. Soon people were buying nuts worth Rs two and handing them over to the monkeys. It seemed like a rapport had been established between man and monkey. For, by then, they had got off the compound wall and were eating off people's palms.

The Big Mommy was the boldest. She held the fingers of Sachin, (a marketing professional who had stopped by), lest he change his mind about the nuts.

Says Sachin, "her nails were hurting me and so I pulled my hand back, but she wouldn't let go."

Luckily the crowd that had collected was not big enough to spill on to the busy road, or else the city would have had another traffic jam. Nevertheless, passengers of PMT buses, cars and bikes slowed down to have a glimpse of the monkeys.

The monkeys broke the monotony of a dull dreary Monday morning and the people who interacted with them left with smiles on their faces.

But this visit was not such a good thing for Shanker Kamble, a 65-year-old beggar. No one was even looking at him and though he was hungry, it were the monkeys who were being fed.

But where do these monkeys come from? No one seemed to have a clue. Kamble who also frequents the Saras Baug area felt that they could be from that side of town. "I have seen them in the baug there. I think they like to travel and they like the greenery."

Well, Sassoon Hospital sure seems to provide that and more, to these unusual guests.