Dt –20– 06– 2014
ANNYATHA MULYAHEENA CONTD.. in English it means Otherwise Worthless
Banarayutha Mukhyam. (Monkeyherd Captain)........................................................
In late 1970s a
boy of eight or nine saw a herd of monkeys jumping from tree to tree, plucking
different fruits and just grown twigs at their merry, eating and destroying at
their will, grimacing to the barking street dogs and mocking the running after
children who threw pebbles towards their teeth in vein. Bou (mother)! The boy
called aloud, could the big and old one be lord Hanuman of Ramayan who like the
Aswasthama of Mahavarat had no death in the epics, the boy quoted his maximum
possible from the stories he heard from elders. Bou replied, no not possible
where ever the first disciple of Lord Ramachandra moved the area echoed Ram Ram
and My Lord Ram, so the monkey in question was not Banara yutha Mukhyam. Where
was there home, they were not seen before?
Bou started her narration, this village Tulati
is a dry area unlike her father`s place plains on the bank of river Brahmani
bearing plenty many trees and vegetations because no river is nearby. With poor
soil also because of God`s grace people grew so many vegetable crops, and there
were a lot of greens, and woods nearby. Tulati was inhabited by a very big herd
of monkeys, not the smaller red faced type (patis) but by the bigger black
faced (hanus) monkeys.They had long tails. They were taking their share of
crops making our villagers angry. The monkeys tried to humanize themselves and
they started with the mirrors. Whenever a monkey got a chance it snatched a
mirror mostly from the hand of the newer brides who were not acquainted with
the situation. If somebody resisted was awarded with a solid slap by the ape. Bou
told a monkey`s slap was with no mercy of the human type. The boy got the
comparison, monkey`s slap was like that of the father`s not like the slap of
the mother. The broken mirrors and slapped new daughter in laws became common
in the village. People were concerned and started discussing to drive away the
herd, their several attempts failed. Even if they were driven to the far west
in the jungle of Pachhikot range within hours they returned back. People became
impatient and organized meetings only to discuss monkey menace.
Someone gave the
idea to call the nomadic tribes of Mankidias (monkey catchers and monkey
eaters) from Mayurvanj district from a far place. They would teach the monkeys
a lesson. What lesson? Kill and eat , sell their hordes could not qualify as
teaching lessons to the maximum number of people who in the village were
liberal minded and the devoted Hindus objected the idea because of the special
status of the species described in Ramayan. So the matter did not carry till a
member of the herd did a typical monkey gait. Bou told with confidence with no
hints to her narration to be fact or fiction, there was a baby less she monkey
that became very affectionate to human baby. How could you know Bou that she had
no baby? She told as all other female monkeys were always holding their babies
on breast even when galloping from one tree to other. Bou told babies never fell
from mothers arm be it human or ape. So she had no baby and she could not beg a
baby from her sister or aunty, which never happened in animals. One day it came
down and held our neighbor`s very small baby to her arm and ran away. The boy
in me screamed, could a human baby hold the mother monkey the way its baby did?
Yes the village was stunned and the only possible means to solve this incident
was to stop reacting. All prayed God. Probably the barren she monkey did not
get the pleasure she intended as the baby of course did not stop crying. So
being disheartened or as it understood the situation it dared to come back and
put the baby at the place from which it was snatched. The family whose baby it
was thanked the monkey and thanked God so also did the villagers.
The decision in
the next meeting was obvious. People collected money to meet the expense of
bringing the monkey eaters to the village. Bou told, her grandmother in law
refused to subscribe the proceeding and no one in our family had the guts to displease
her. So the villagers isolated the boy`s (my) family.
A geographical description of the village is
required here. In Odisha water flows from west to east. In our village all
water from the villages and woods on the western side passed through our sahi
in between the two rows of houses so that the road in between was converted to
a water loaded tributary for the entire rainy season. Our house is at the east
end after which the majestic pond of Kastura is placed. Plenty of water after
our house was divided to two parts, one half poured into Kastura and through
the pond was diverted south ward another half directly was diverted to south
ward. So the large southern paddy fields got enough water. A particular place
got maximum water where there were not only plenty of big trees but also was
the place to catch a lot of country fish
with nets of round frame (manduli jalla) and the place was named mandulimuhan
(face of round framed nets). This particular place was monkey herd`s favorite.
The mankdias (monkey catchers) did there dwelling at that place and did spread
their nets on a vast area. (It is strange coincidence that as I
wrote this part of the memoir that includes Mankadia tribe one laboring mother of
this tribe has reached my hospital to deliver, they rarely come for the reason)
To be contd .
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Part two of Banarayuth Mukhyam, in Annyatha Mullyaheena, memoir.
Dt –22– 06– 2014 ANNYATHA MULYAHEENA CONTD.. in English it means Otherwise Worthless read first part to understand this portion.
Banarayutha Mukhyam. (Monkeyherd Captain) (part 2)
Why don`t we see a lot of trees at mandulimuhan bou? It is our fate, we are cursed, who can do away of the tears and humanly prayer and prostration of the monkeys for mercy before they were brutally killed being captive. I cannot represent the way a mother described the fact of such cruelty to such a young child that to a very sensitive son. She was an expert narrator as I do not carry any negative memory of the event.
The animals had a peculiar behavior, they stayed in melancholy with the smell of their fellow`s flesh and the exhibition of the hordes being dried hanging from a line of rope. They stayed in the village only to be tactically captured one by one and slayed. (This was the treatment to the members of our Lord Ramachandra`s associates in the first of the two epics on which our civilization stands. The faith is for the convenience not for any reversal.)
But yes, the Banarayuthamukhyam and three of his associates they could never capture, how can they kill the Hanuman that withstood the age of Ramayan and the age of Mahavarat to teach Bhima to control his ego, he remained free in the village and finally stayed inside the paddy ware house of one rich villager. The monkey catchers thought everyone finished and a few left the place deep into the jungle. Bou added, after fasting for several days they left the village permanently, with them the vegetable cultivation, the jungle and the trees at mandulimuhan all were gradually lost from the village making it literally a desert. The villagers do a customary Banabhoji (picnic in a jungle) every year at Mandulimuhan where no trees exist at present.
Bou further added the Banarayutha mukhyam brought never seen before delicious fruits from the deep woods of unknown location for several years to the rich family who saved by not disclosing the last four monkeys hide out.
But how can the Banarayutha Mukham hide, there must be echoes of Ram Ram , Oh Lord Ram that can identify His location. Bou told only true deevoties of Rama can hear the echo and not a single such person was found in the village during the tragedy. Story ended there as the monkey herd plucked and destroyed all the ripe guavas in our garden, may be some solace the boy got seeing the monkey act.
(The incident of course happened in my village but probably some portion were my mother`s imagination to please and pacify her son I never wanted to verify the fact only to salute Bou`s narration, the old lady is alive and can answer your queries if asked in Odiya her cell number can be given on demand) Dedicated to Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting the two captains during monkey gate controversy of 2007. 
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