This story is actually my sister's. Several years have passed since it took place and there maybe factual inconsistencies.

When my father was still in service, we lived in the railway colony at Lancer Barracks, Secunderabad. A really nice colony. Lots of open spaces, trees, birds and...monkeys. With their habitat being fast destroyed, the poor creatures had no choice but to head for the trees in our colony.

There is one more animal in this story - our dog Sheru. A mongrel who wandered into our home as a pup and adopted us. Sheru was a free spirit. Not for him the slavish devotion to humans seen in other dogs. He came and went as he pleased. Hung around the house in unexpected nooks and crannies and was only mildly apologetic if you went flying across the room because you had tripped over him in some dark corner.

Due to the constant threat of monkey invasion, we had some ground rules in our home. The balcony doors were to be kept shut, if the adjoining room was empty or if its occupant was not armed with a stick. A rule we all adhered to for the most part. The few times that we did not led to some "incidents".

My sister was student extraordinaire. She was the teacher's delight - perfect combination of brains and hard work. Watching her go at her books was like watching someone do an aerobic workout! She usually favoured the dining room for studying - the table itself forming the sun around which she orbited.

And so it happened, that one day, she was alone at home and busily flexing her brain muscles. During the course of her circumambulation around the table, she noticed a shadow. Thinking it to be Sheru on one of his home visits, she did not pay much attention to it. The balcony door was, however, open and alas, my sister did not connect the shadow with that fact. It wasn't long before my sister came face to face with our simian visitor.

All hell broke loose. My sister flung down her textbook and sprinted for the front door. Crashing out of the door, she slammed it shut behind her and bolted it, lest the monkey followed her. So now she was safe - outside our house with the monkey locked inside!

My memory fades at this point. I'm not able to remember what followed after that. I think my sister called upon our neighbours for help. As they also had monkey-phobia, I am not sure if the help was forthcoming. It is likely that the monkey lost interest and left the premises - after kicking over a few items of furniture or rummaging in the kitchen. I'm sure my sister can fill us in.

Why did I write about this you ask? Two reasons - we have monkey neighbours at our current residence also and I was reminded about the monkeys of yesteryear through a link in Facebook. Check it out at the community titled 'Marredpally Days' and see the thread on 'Marredpally Monkeys'