Thriving monkeys of Old Dhaka

Give food or they will steal your clothes. That's the ransom some residents of Dhaka city have to pay to appease their otherwise innocent neighbours.

In his book "Satyajit Smriti", Satyajit Ray wrote about his memories with one of Dhaka's oldest primates in Wari.

"My maternal uncle's house is in Wari on Rankin Street. I don't know if that house exists now. I don't even know if that road exists now. I don't remember anything about that home. But what I can remember is the rampant monkey infestation."

The Dhaka city of today holds little resemblance with the Dhaka of yore. Before the actual infestation, that by humans, began, Dhaka was a forest housing elephants, wild boars, buffaloes and even some big cats.

Photo: Rajib Dhar

Even in the seventeenth century, there were reports of several tigers and leopards in the forests of Dhaka.

For the past four centuries, Dhaka's humans shared a residence, and a bond, with the wilderness.

But as the years rolled by, the population grew, the colonisers popularised hunting as a sport and then the destructive nature of capitalism invaded every section of life.

The animals, once an integral and vibrant part of Dhaka life, were pushed to the fringes, many disappearing entirely. No longer were water lizards, jungle cats or even the now elusive langur seen in familiar city streets.

As the greenery began to vanish, so did those who sought refuge in it.

Photo: Rajib Dhar

But the character of resiliency, a word often used to describe the people of the delta for whom surmounting the insurmountable is commonplace, can also be seen in a number of animals under the onslaught of selfish development.

When Dhaka was full of trees and bushes, troops of monkeys reigned supreme. Such was their abundance, the mark the creatures have left is indelible. A small locality off Joynag Road in Old Dhaka is still known as "Banortuli". Although the exact origin of the name is not known, it is assumed that the location was frequented by monkeys.

It's not Banortuli that has this unique distinction. From Gandaria, Bangdram, Johnson Road, Tipu Sultan Road, Sutrapur, Bania Nagar and Rathkhola in Nawabganj – the presence of monkeys harks back to a period of Dhaka now unimaginable.

A neighbour, not nuisance

In his book "Kingbadantir Dhaka", Nazir Hossain wrote at length about the primates who share the city with the rest of us.

"...Numerous monkeys used to roam around the trees and roofs of houses. Even in the early morning, hundreds of monkeys would sit in groups in the middle of the road and happily groom each other. The monkeys used to sit on the road with little regard for pedestrians. Seeing them in groups, many were afraid to walk past them. One did not dare pass a troop on their own. People would stop and wait. When there were four or five others, they would all walk past the monkeys with slow steps, building up the courage.

Calling the animals boisterous, Nazir also credited them for their intelligence. He also recalled their marauding nature, as they would break into homes to steal food and even clothes, provided their first desire wasn't met.

"If the housewives lovingly gave food, they would return it. Or they would tear it apart. They would snatch food from the hands of boys and bare their teeth if they were interfered with…In short, the people here were always in awe of the monkeys. But sometimes people would shoot and kill the monkeys without hesitation."

Researcher and journalist Afsan Chowdhury also recalled bittersweet memories of the so-called monkey infestation.

"One day my mother was feeding rice to my elder brother. Suddenly, a monkey entered the room. The monkey grabbed my mother's hand with one hand and started eating with the other. As long as the monkey was there, it held my mother's hand. My father decided to shoot blanks at the monkeys. Dad's shots came in handy. After this, the monkeys became cautious. They didn't come around our house anymore."

The clothes for food project

Talking to a few families in Gandaria and Maishundi area revealed a different reality in the present.

Aniruddha Pal has been living in Dinanath Sen Goli for almost 23 years.

He said, "Monkeys will monkey around. But that means we don't kill or hurt them. Monkeys live the most in this lane. And the people of this area are also used to it. So to us, they are neighbours."

Shilparani Das, a local near the Sri Sri Radha Govinda Jiu Mandir on Bangram Road in Old Dhaka, said she made two loaves of bread each day for the monkeys. "Two monkeys come to me every day. One is old and thin, the other is small. If I am not in the kitchen, they will run away with it. Yesterday, they ran away with an entire cauliflower. But there is no violence in them. They stand near the window and call out. They come because they can't find food. If you give them food, they will eat it and go away."

The life and death of monkeys was once determined with the life and death of people!

Walking along the Niketan lane on Dinanath Sen Road, one can see monkeys hanging from wires or walking along railings.

Looking at the surrounding houses, it can be understood that they have put separate fences on the doors and windows of the house because of the monkeys. But they have no complaints.

If the monkeys are fed, they don't create any trouble.

Media worker Aditya Ahsan Bari, who lives in Gandaria, said, "If you annoy a monkey, they will get agitated. They might then scratch you, but they are innocent. If they are hungry and you don't feed them, they will take away your clothes."

Bari recalled an incident when a monkey took his father's lungi and mother's clothes from the balcony during lockdown.

Later, they managed to save the clothes, by giving the monkey some vegetables.

"We jokingly call it the clothes for food project," he said with a laugh.

The last of the wild

Bhabtosh Dey, the senior gatekeeper at the Sadhana Aushadhalaya, a hotbed of money activity, said monkeys arrived in Old Dhaka with Professor Dr Jogesh Chandra Ghosh, who founded the establishment in Dinnath Sen Road back in 1914.

At the time, jaggery was used to make medicines in the factories here. The monkeys would be lured out of the nearby forests by the fragrance of the molasses. Seeing this, Jogesh left a room in his factories for the monkeys to live in.

He fed and cared for the monkeys. During 1971, when Jogesh was martyred, his successors continued to care for the monkeys.

The practice continues till this day. Every morning, monkeys gather and are fed around ten kilograms of chickpeas. Earlier, the monkeys ate chickpeas, bread or bananas. While the quantity has decreased, the feeding has not, Bhabtosh said.

Besides, talking to the locals, it is known that earlier, the city corporation also gave carrots, bananas, cucumbers, tomatoes, almonds alternately for the monkeys in three places of the capital, although that initiative has died down.

The forest department, meanwhile, continues to provide food to the monkeys, locals claimed.

Sanaullah Patwari, Director of Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit (Forest Division), however, was indifferent to the fate of the monkeys.

"It is absurd to dwell on whether these monkeys got food when the people of this country are not getting food," he said over phone.

These innocent animals run from one lane to another in the hope of food. But in the evening, everyone returns to the residence. Shakti, Sadhana, Dinnath Sen Road Cemetery, roofs of various houses, their residence in trees. Monkey numbers are very low today due to lack of food and habitat. And that's why the animals are attacking people and houses, behaving in an irritable manner. Opening the fridge and taking food, taking clothes from the window grill. Also the hostile behaviour of responsible people. Monkeys are also dying from electrocution. These are one of the reasons for the decrease in the number of monkeys.

Visitors drawn to the troops also bring food. Students from different schools and universities to keep the animals well-nourished during the pandemic-induced lockdowns.

As vegetation has steadily declined, the monkeys have become almost entirely dependent on their neighbouring humans for food.

At present, Sadhana employees believe that 150-200 monkeys live in the factory premises and the adjacent graveyard.

Once, Dhaka boasted a population of around 2-3 lakh monkeys. But those days are gone. All that remains now are the last vestiges of a city which was born to be wild.