On human conduct: Not quite monkey see, monkey do

Given the usual disdain that humans have for other animals on Earth, it is not surprising that one of the many disparaging phrases in the English language is “Pay peanuts and you only get monkeys”. Add to that terms like ‘monkey business’, ‘monkey hustle’, ‘going ape’ and several other primatial putdowns, the slur on simian ingenuity, integrity and efficiency is unmistakable. But what then is the conclusion to be drawn about the humans who scrambled madly to grab the fistfuls of Rs 500 notes so generously flung aloft by a monkey from a handbag purloined from a woman outside the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan last week? There was obviously not much to choose between the behaviour of the dispenser and windfall gainers.

That the distressed devotee was also relieved of her mobile phone — by a light-fingered member of her own species — as she tried to get her Rs 1.5 lakh back, also speaks volumes about the propriety of terms like ‘making a monkey out of someone’ or ‘as tricky as an ape’. It is fairly likely that the woman would not have rained such munificence on Vrindavan’s citizenry of her own accord; the simian was also probably just monkeying around without any idea of the value of those scraps of printed paper. Therefore, determining which hominid ended up pleasing the gods is practically impossible.