Monkey and Monkey Charmer: Dawn to dusk they move together as partners in livelihood in the slums and streets of metropolitan cities, the cute little monkeys with their athletic and acrobatic acts and the exposed or hiding monkey charmer with his little tricks of the trade. For him exposing is entertaining for countless little children and hiding is a tale of a harrowing life of deprivation. If he keeps on lamenting on agonies of life, he and his monkeys would be without livelihood. His livelihood is simple a piece of bread (naan) worth five rupees and a cup of tea for another Rs5/- For a change it again costs merely Rs10, a couple of samosas with complimentary gravy and a free glass of water! But how can he have meals without feeding his partners. For his monkeys he endeavours to buy carrots and turnips, or for a change, bananas and peanuts. But when he is broke they are sad and mutually live just on skins of stale vegetables and fruits. The brighter spot of their darker days depends on his ability to sing his heart out inviting children of various localities to watch his show as his monkeys dance and perform one gymnastic act after another to the beat of his pulsating and usually captivating dug-dugi (monkey drum). And when people shower them with pennies, they are beaming with excitement as monkeys wear caps, carry sticks like policemen and salute for salami. Later it is discovered that pennies are peanuts that hardly can buy them food. An amazing sight is seeing monkeys and the monkey charmer at traffic signals waiting for the red light and the cars to stop for a minute and seeking permission from car drivers for the monkeys to clean their front glasses providing entertainment in return for a little money. Whether it is Allah Ditta or Prem Chand or Robin Masih, the monkey charmer boys seem so simple, humble and gentle; sweating and tiring for a hard-earned livelihood; delivering with professional honesty for every penny they are paid; and with no complaints, grudges and hard feelings even when they are mistreated and looked down upon. It is agonising when some street urchins hurl stones at the monkeys just for the fun of it. Worst is when they have to sleep on the footpath to pass the night amid rain or thundershowers. The worst part of the show is also when their slippers are torn and they have to walk barefoot with burning feet in heat and freezing feet in cold. It is even worse when a monkey or monkey charmer falls sick and has no money for medication. But the wonderful part of the monkeys is that they would share the joys and sorrows of their master. Some poor monkey charmers have grace enough not to beg under the worst circumstances. They would prefer sleeping hungry, enduring pain and illness, shivering in cold or burning under the sun to begging for mercy, money, help, alms or charity. They would work and earn rather than beg and appeal for help or for money. Sharing grace with the monkey charmer are monkeys understanding and endeavouring to perform and earn a living without begging or banking on help. They are also sharing such thrills and frills of life as music, dance, smiles, and cheers and of course, a hearty meal when that little money luck smiles. It is an amazing blend of mutual trust, harmony and accommodation between man and animal if not between man and man in our turbulent world of chaos and turmoil. https://youtube/watch?v=0zam8bR6ag8
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 09:20:38 +0000
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