"In an effort to keep monkeys out of the New Delhi subways, authorities have called in one of the few animals known to scare the creatures — a fierce-looking primate called the langur, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Wednesday.(boldalics mine)
The decision to hire a langurwallah — a man who trains and controls the langurs — came after a monkey got into a metro car in June, the newspaper reported."
Will someone please explain the difference between a "monkey" (the kind seen in Indian towns) and the "fierce-looking primate called the langur"?
The Hindustan Times is not completely accurate. I know one other creature that can truly scare these monkeys, and that is our old maali ("gardener", in Hindi.) That wide-eyed, lisping, stuttering stick-thin man who claimed to have fought a wild boar (and won) was much feared by the raucous langur community that thrived in and around our kitchen garden. I don't know if he is still alive. If he is not, I am sure he is chasing those monkeys out of that Great Kitchen Garden In The Sky.
Also to be noted: "langurwallah" is a freshly-minted word. No hits on Google. Shouldn't we be voting for a "International Petition For the Induction of Langurwallah In The Oxford English Dictionary" or something?
And someone get that langurwallah a blog NOW! (Sample entry: Aug 3: "Blogging will be slow. Monkeys stole my modem")
I swear upon the Monkey-God (link to Kamat.com) this is the best quote I've seen this week:
"There are too many monkeys." (spokesperson of the Delhi Metro)
6 comments:
more importantly, "don't take all the monkeys."
imp life-quote.
Dear Sunita...Oops, I meant dear KM, you'll find you langur info here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/321.shtml
:-)
May the person who called you Sunita be forever rid of the monkeys on his/her back.
K, that line belongs on a greeting card or something :)
Ghost, coughmaysunitagotohellcough, that BBC page shows the common/hanuman langur. So what's this other monkey that the papers are talking about? Is it a Rhesus monkey?
Poor Sunita!
But, you're right...they mean the regular Rhesus monkey, which are so very common here.
And who'll chase away the langurs? Will they be hiring gorillas (trained by a gorillawallah) next?
Joy, do you think we will be looking at the ENTIRE evolution ladder once again right there on the Delhi Metro? :)
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