GUESS THE NAME

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

22/XI/2024

 

Mom used to ‘christen’ pets and strays with some unique nickname which she would invent. We would laugh, but then her naming had logic in her scheme and theme of things.

 

She had a unique way of mingling with stray dogs, cats or birds. Mind you, those creatures understood and responded to her by the names she called them. How do you describe that relationship?

 

A brown bitch was ‘Bhoori’ a black one was ‘Kali’, if it was a dog then ‘Kalu’, a cat was ‘Kitty’ her kittens were ‘brownie’, ‘blackie’, ‘bhadrangi’. An animal with a limp was ‘langri’ or ‘langru’ depending upon the gender. Hen’s chicks were chun-chun and their variants, like whitetoo, blackoo, laraaku, if it fought too much, so on and so forth. Mom remembered what she named them. I and you would get confused.

 

The other day we were in a laid-back hill station called Kasauli. There was a ‘point’ which had been converted into a tourist attraction like most hill stations have, like the Dolphin’s nose, the camel’s back, sunset point etc. Here we had the ‘Monkey point’.

 

The monkey gang was active everywhere in the town. The holiday home folks had warned us to keep doors and windows secure as they come visiting. The first opportunity and you would find them on the dining table, joining you for a meal.

 

Over a period of time, they had got used to tourists and even snatched bags and packets which one carried for a snack. Obviously, people were feeding them and they were loving it. Keeping a safe distance from them, one enjoyed taking a few photos.

 

Next morning, as the sun came up, my wife and I decided to bask in the sun when a gang of these ‘rhesus monkeys’ landed on the roof of the holiday home. They were not bothered about human presence or stray dogs who sat guard.

 

It was nice to observe that the hill station was extremely stray friendly. Dogs could cuddle and huddle anywhere they felt like.

 

‘Chitkabri’ the holiday home bitch raised the alarm. By the way, I gave her that name. A very loving one and super alert. A naughty monkey gave her a chase and kept dodging her attacks. Chitkabri lost her cool and barked incessantly at this monkey. The monkey climbed over the retaining wall, pulled her tail, and scooted up the nearby pine tree frustrating her no end. Then the monkey lost interest in her and moved on towards the monkey point.

 

It was later we learnt that it was not monkey point but MANKI point. Why? I don’t know.

 

While the monkey’s marched ahead, doing monkey tricks, the ‘Alpha’ male stood guard on our roof to all the happenings, like a proud father of the gang.

 

That is when a ‘slow-moving’ monkey caught my attention. It moved sluggish and differently and was one bound behind the rest of the gang. It sauntered with a limp and stayed a little separated from the others. Luckily, it made his way right infront of where we sat.

 

The reason for its strange behaviour was obvious. One hand was missing. It appeared to have been severed and amputated. How the hell did this wild thing manage to lose her hand from her wrist? Still fighting for survival, it followed the gang at their heels. People, I am sure, would be feeding it extra out of sympathy.

 

That is when I remembered mom because of her 'naming' uniqueness. What would she have called this monkey with no hand?

 

The word ‘TUNDA’ came to my mind and I christened it so. What would have mom named it? I wonder!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS

TUNDA