Mystery Solved!

Due to the barely bearable heat in the afternoons, I spend my hours post-lunch to about 5:30pm in the computer lab. Of course, it's still just as hot in the computer lab, but the internet and communication with other human beings (Rishi Valley is a lonely place during school breaks...) keeps me conscious. However, since it is hot, I try to stay hydrated by drinking two one-liter bottles of water during the span of the 3-4 hours I am in the lab. Since I don't want to initially lug two bottles of water up to the lab, and since I live so close, I usually take a break at around 3:30 to go back to my room and swap out the empty water bottle for a fresh one (which is usually unpleasantly warm in the afternoon temperatures).

Anyway, during these breaks, I have recently noticed that sometimes, the tap in the courtyard of my house is open. As there is a huge water shortage in the Rishi Valley, this is a big deal. Who would come into my house and open my tap and then leave it running? This was a sort of unsettling mystery... Was it the kids? But they know, they know about the water shortage, they wouldn't... Would they? Who else could it be? Couldn't possibly be the adults -- they know better than anyone!

This morning, the mystery was solved.

I had quite a late night yesterday, reading and doing some work late into the night (past 3am). Since it cools off a bit at night, it's much nicer to work then. Thus, I let myself sleep in this morning. I wake around 11am, only to find intruders in my courtyard. Who is it? I scramble for my glasses and peer out the mesh window, where I see, no joke, a troupe of bonnet macaque monkeys! One jumps on the tap and opens it and begins drinking the water! When he is satisfied, more monkeys follow suit! Also, by my tap, there are empty tin cans from condensed milk left over from the pumpkin pie fiasco of Thanksgiving09. The monkeys were actually using these as cups!

I watched them for about 15 minutes and the show was truly incredible! Such confidence and swiftness in their movements. They were able to use both the tap and the "cups" -- intelligent! They took turns, shared, some showed dominance, they climbed stuff, and I think one tried to make sweet love to my hammock (thankfully, he failed). Also, they always had a monkey watching the main door to see if any disturbances were approaching. It was AWESOME. A mother not only got water for herself, but also made sure her little baby, clinging onto her front (stomach/chest area) got its fill. It was really an amazing sight.

When every member of the troupe was finished drinking, the last monkey closed the tap and climbed up to the roof and out of my house. He didn't close it all the way, though, so I had to venture outdoors to tightly close the water. I'm pretty sure these guys are the reason my tap is sometimes open in the afternoon. Mystery solved!


And that's how my day began today! Studying monkeys! Who could ask for more out of life?
And it's days like these and moments like these, when, despite the heat, I could not be happier about my decision to come to India this year. :)