Monkey goes missing with infant in Odisha:: The Hindu report

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/monkey-goes-missing-with-infant-in-odisha/article23402547.ece
Life's stranger than fiction. Now read this real-life experience narrated by Vathsala Jayaraman in a group email:

M G Warrier Thiruvananthapuram

Today's (April 1, 2018) The Hindu carries a News item about an infant being carried away by a monkey in Cuttack district of Odissa.

This rewinds my memories of a real incident that

happened in 1969, which I have shared

earlier with the group.

It was 9th June 1969.I was in my native village. My

first daughter was 22 days old.
 She was sleeping in a bamboo cradle in the hall.My

parents had gone to the temple.

As I was busy in the kitchen I felt the haphazard

swinging from the cradle.When I rushed

to the hall, I saw  a big monkey sitting on the rim

of the cradle and jumping & jumping

over and over again giving a vertical bumping motion

to the cradle.When I went near the

cradle and tried to drive away the monkey with

vociferous signals, the monkey didn't move.

Instead it took away the baby biting the araignan rope

( a black rope tied around the waist of the baby) with its

teeth, with the baby's head and feet hanging on both

the sides.Immediately it jumped out of the cradle and

started running towards the backyard.

My imagination ran riot.The most favorite place for

the monkey used to be the concrete

slab on the well, the top of coconut trees or the tall

madhil suvar( compound wall )

of the temples. since there was nobody at home,

I was nervous.The monkey was nearing the

well which was just 20 feet away.

 Suddenly I got a flash. I remembered the words my mother had spoken on an earlier occasion.

" Monkeys think that they are the most beautiful

creatures in the world. They would like to see

and admire their own form in the mirror'.Without

wasting a second, I took the mirror from the shelf

and ran towards the monkey, & by some sounds

attracted its attention. It was just 2 steps to reach

the well.

With a prayer in my mind, & posing to be brave,

I just went in front of the monkey and showed the

mirror just against its face.

Immediately the monkey became too happy or

inquisitive and dropped the baby on the mud floor

just adjacent to the parapet wall.I just threw the

mirror near the monkey in which it seemed to

enjoy its beauty.Everything happened within

one minute.

I took the baby inside, bolted the doors.It took

nearly an hour for me to regain my normal breath.

Luckily the child had no problem except a mark

of the monkey's teeth.As she was just an infant

she didn't feel panicky.It was a rebirth to her.

But an information which had been received by me casually helped me in a crisis.Our education, degrees, intelligence or

our official position may not be of help on such

occasions. Only our commonsense,

samayochitabuddhi and swiftness matter a lot.

By divine grace, we should get

the strength of my mind to get the right idea and

implement it in right time, right speed and

the appropriate manner.
Actually, the information was given to me when

I was just 8 years old when my mother used to

tell about the Ramar Pattabhishekam when the

monkeys were adorning  Sita for the festival.

They decorated themselves also and stood before

Sita & told her with pride that they looked

more beautiful than Sita herself and  that

if Rama had seen them earlier he would not have thought of Sita.

Now my daughter is 48, married and has got two

children.My grandchildren, on hearing the story

commented how among so many kids in the village,

the monkey had a special liking for her

A small tip given by my mother while narrating

Ramayana was not of much importance to me at the

age of 8.But things that look little and insignificant,

assume the greatest importance in our life on a different occasion.

Vathsala  Jayaraman

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