Alpha male monkey triumphs over Nani mama

నాని మామ (Nani mama) was my mother’s younger brother. మామ or మామయ్య  (mama or mamayya) is mother’s brother or paternal aunt’s husband in Telugu. అమ్మ (Amma) and నాని మామ (Nani mama) were very close as children. They were three years apart in age and did everything together. They walked to school together and had common friends. Amma was a tomboy when she was younger or so she says. She used to hang out with Nani mama and his friends, being part of whatever they were playing in the streets. She talks about standing under the gutters when it was raining for fun and getting in trouble with my అమ్ముమ్మ (Ammumma is maternal grandmother in Telugu) and my జేజమ్మ (Jejamma is great grandmother in Telugu). I didn't have the pleasure of meeting జేజమ్మ (Jejamma), my great grandmother on my mother’s side. I got glimpses of Amma’s rebelliousness when she gave me freedom from traditions and encouraged me to pursue my dreams even if they were in direct contradiction to traditional and societal norms.

Nani mama was a prankster and a general goofball. He would visit us often when I was younger. Whenever he had time, he would get in the car and drive out to wherever we were living at that time. Traveling by car wasn’t common at that time. There were not many options other than Ambassadors made by Hindustan Motors company. These cars were frozen in time and didn’t see any updates for decades. He knew these cars inside out and was good with repairing them. He was very adventurous to take on long drives for miles on end on bad and bumpy roads.

He was our Summer Santa as he would bring baskets full of mangoes during summers, sweets and delicacies from West Godavari district. The trunk, front, and back seats of his car were filled with baskets. I don’t know if he even had room for his suitcase. At times he would bring fish or shrimp. My guess is that he would buy whatever he found along the way and loaded up in the car to bring to us.

Ripe mangoes went into large cement water troughs. Green ones were spread under beds or other pieces of furniture in a dark room on a soft bed of hay in a single layer and then covered with a layer of hay to ripen. Musty smell of hay mixed in with mouth watering aroma from ripening mangoes permeated the rooms. Search was on every single morning to find ripe mangoes and promptly put them in troughs full of cold water. Mangoes were consumed for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between. Nani mama was very skillful at sucking juice out of a mango through a tiny hole at the top. He would then blow air into it and leave it for the unsuspecting victim to pick it up only to find it full of air. It was tough to tell the difference between this air filled and other good ones. I fell for his mango trick a few too many times. He would give me an ear to ear mischievous grin whenever his trick worked on me. It was hard to get mad at him though after bringing so many mangoes.

When we went to our grandparents, he would take us to  see barrages and dykes on Godavari river. On one such visit to my grandparent’s place, Nani mama had an encounter with a troop of monkeys. It is common for large troops of monkeys to descend on houses and yards in Andhra Pradesh in towns and villages close to forested areas. They will be all over the flat rooftops walking around like they own it and snatch fruits from mango and guava trees. They tear through the yard leaving broken branches, half eaten fruits all over the yard and on the rooftops.

One morning, a troop of monkeys descended on our grandparent’s house. This was a large troop with mothers, young males, children, and an alpha male leading them. Children were clinging to their mothers as their mothers hopped from one branch to another. Young males, and females were hopping from tree to tree tearing through the yard. At that time, mango trees in the yard were laden with green mangoes ready for harvesting to make ఆవకాయ (avakaya) and మాగాయ (magaya) pickles. Ammumma was beside herself that monkeys would destroy the crop and she wouldn’t be able to harvest enough mangoes for her to make yearly supply of ఆవకాయ (avakaya) and మాగాయ (magaya) pickles.

Avakaya is a combination of two words, ఆవాలు (mustard) and కాయ (raw fruit) which means “raw fruit with mustard”. Even though avakaya can be made with any fruit, fruit in avakaya is always the king of fruits, mango. Avakaya is made with mangoes cut into small pieces retaining the hard shell that holds the seed to keep the piece firm. The seed is removed and the pieces are wiped with a clean, wet cloth. Mango pieces are combined with ఆవపిండి( ava pindi is ground mustard in  Telugu), కారం (karam is ground cayenne in Telugu), మెంతిపొడి (menthi podi is  ground fenugreek in Telugu), ఉప్పు (uppu is  salt in Telugu), peeled  వెల్లుల్లి పాయలు (vellulli payalu is garlic in Telugu), and a generous amount of నువ్వుల నూనె  (nuvvula nune is  sesame seed oil in Telugu) is added. మాగాయ (magaya) is made with similar spices except the mango is peeled and the hard seed shell is removed before cutting it into pieces.

These pickles are stored in large ceramic pots called జాడీలు (జాడీ - jadi is ceramic pot in Telugu) which are kept safe in a dark and cooler room in the house. These జాడీలు (jadilu) are made specially for storing pickles. Smaller జాడీలు (jadilu) are used for serving pickles at meals and refilled from the larger ones as needed. Avakaya and magaya are so delicious and go well with many Indian dishes such as dosa, idli, and rice and dal.

I wasn’t concerned about mangos and other fruits at that time. It was exciting to watch the monkeys as they tore through the yard and listen to them screeching at the top of their lungs. It was fascinating to watch them hop from tree to tree, wall to wall, and roof to roof. There was another large group of monkeys assembled on our rooftop. Ammumma asked Nani mama to chase the monkeys away. Nani mama, armed with a very long bamboo pole, started chasing them from one tree to another in the yard. Then he noticed that the alpha male was sitting on the terrace wall directing his subjects. Nani mama decided to scare the alpha male away from the rooftop so others would just follow him. He found a perfect place on the veranda that positioned him right under the alpha male within the reach of the bamboo pole.

I planted myself as close as I could from Nani mama without upsetting Amma and still got a front row seat to this epic battle. Amma was concerned for good reasons that one of the monkeys could attack me. People usually stay out of the way of a troop of monkeys and let them be unless a fully laden mango tree or some other tree needs defending. Besides, you never know if the alpha male is under the protection of ఆంజనేయ (Anjaneya), the king of all alpha males monkeys in the world. In which case, even 1000 repetitions of ఆంజనేయ దండకం (Anjaneya dandakam) can’t save you when you need help the most. You just don’t want to take a chance angering Anajaneya. The Anjaneya dandakam is a prayer to Anjaneya to ask him to watch over you to ward off evil spirits. Amma had me recite the Anjaneya dandakam at bedtime so I could fall asleep without fear.

The alpha male was majestic as he perched himself on the terrace wall with a mango in his hand and his back to Nani mama. His long tail was dangling down towards the veranda below. Nani mama nudged the alpha male’s bottom with the bamboo pole he was holding in his outstretched arm. The alpha male turned around and looked down at Nani mama’s face and the pole in his hand. He was mad and showed his mighty teeth and shouted at Nani mama. Nani mama shouted back and the nudges became pokes. They both shouted at each other as Nani mama continued to poke the alpha male a few more times. I was cheering on Nani mama and all the monkeys no doubt were cheering on their fearless leader who took on a human.

All of a sudden I noticed a stream of pale yellow liquid cascading down and falling right on Nani mama’s face as he was looking up and poking the monkey. The alpha male completed his మూత్ర విసర్జన (mutra visarjana is a fancy word for urinating in Telugu) as Nani mama threw the stick away, cussing at the monkey as he ran towards the bathroom to clean himself. The alpha male finished enjoying the mango in his hand and strolled away regally with his subjects following him. He for sure secured his position as the alpha male until they got to their next destination.