Camels and Monkeys Galore!

Before coming to India I had a conversation with three native youngsters whose parents had immigrated to the US and were just about to have their fourth child. This was part of my preparation and intense informative sessions so generously organized by Phil and Nancy. I asked them prompted by their parents what animals you could find roaming India and they told me monkeys, cows, elephants, chickens and more! My interactions and sightings have been mixed and surprising. Every night, no matter where I am, I live with biting red ants, hazardous mosquitoes and croaking lizards that are almost translucent. The other evening at the RC Sendivakkam school a frog became my roommate. During the day while the insects are resting the monkeys roam. Everywhere. India has many national parks and zoos, most of which are well kept and highly touristic. They have white tailed deer, bird sanctuaries, elephant rides and nice paths and greenery. The monkeys are altogether overpopulated and imposing on peoples' families and shops. They live in the temples, dangle from coconut trees, and swing onto your roof. They will swarm your front door in the afternoon hoping to steal your lunch. They will have sex on the side of the roads and inhabit the school children's hostels. They are worse than the stray dogs whose mange covered coats are red and irritated. The dogs fight each other and sometimes pose a hazard to bystanders. It is best to create a safe perimeter, like an attendee at a cockfight their snarls and barks give warning for ferocious bites and brutal scratches. Typically only using three legs their stamina and breeding habits mimics that of the local women. The female dogs are always pregnant, but I seldom see puppies. The first and only time I have seen camels was on the streets of Chennai, it was like a moment from 'Aladdin', multicolored blankets and fringed bridles decorated the 8 or 10 camels walking majestically down the road past a gas station. Families have cows, goats, buffaloes, chickens and children (this is a joke, but in reality they are unhygenically linked to the animals that live with them on their property and in their homes). While visiting one school a goat was placed in my lap and this being unusual for me I didn't touch the goat so it ran wildly through the classrooms. I then needed to be the goat herder and somehow with the help of 5 students managed to get the goat stabilized on a bench, though I still had to hold it. It was bleating and scared like the pre-school students arriving at school in the mornings, not wanting to leave their mothers arms. The cows roam the streets of the city and I spot them munching on brightly colored posters and looking for small grassy plots. Cow paddies are everywhere and half of the time walking you should be looking down for either a cow poo or a human one will pass you by. Driving more rurally, the brake inspectors as Pastor Peter Paul Thomas calls them will make sure your attentiveness and vehicle maneuvering are at their highest level. Sometimes they will be running, sometimes traveling in huge packs meandering as they wish impossible to pass until the herder pokes and prods them in the right direction. Unfortunately for one huge buffalo the car he was inspecting did not have good brakes and therefore he lost his life. This life specifically took up half of the road he was a mammoth! It's a dangerous job, but since he police are negligent responsibility get passed along. I saw an iguana like the one I used to have crawling on the ledge next to Preem's house. Preem is also a monkey intimidator and his dance with a broom handle is not to be taken lightly. If only my iguana would have found his way to India, I'm sure he would have been happier than enduring the torturous care I neglected to give him. As bothered I am by the insects constantly crawling on me or the hornets invading my bathrooms building their immaculate homes alongside a mirror, the locals don't take any notice, this is life and I'm working on adjusting. One thing all the animals share is their understanding of Tamil and rarely English, so there goes another barrier for my communication obstacles!