BRICKBATS ON THE MONKEY ARMY

"We have a couple of hawks near us that keep the pigeons away. The theory is great but.....
Last experience I had with monkeys was when one of them nicked my sunglasses whilst I was eating breakfast by the Limpopo river in Northern Kruger. Don't trust the monkeys!! "

"The people organizing this whole thing aren't exactly masters of public relations, are they?...If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!"

These are just a few of the several comments, critiquing and ridiculing the idea of having langurs deployed for the protection of athletes from animals in the to-be-soon-held Commonwealth Games. These comments are in response to the news report that appeared today on www.telegraph.co.uk on the same topic.

In my earlier blog, I had expressed my appreciation for the unique 'monkey' idea, after reading the same report. However, as I scrolled down to read further, I was shocked to note how badly and sarcastically the initiative had been panned by an alarming majority of people.

I wondered why exactly it was that the majority had been so unanimous in their treating it as a joke and rendering it almost useless. Was it because criticising the Games has become a fashion? Or was it because the animal menace was being treated so differently, by using monkeys against the monkeys(among other animals) themselves?
If it is the former case, my advice would be to just wait and watch.Do have faith in it.As a layperson, it is easy to sit back and be critical about each and everything the Government is doing. The experts must have thought of something before implementing it.
If it is the second case, it should suffice to know that the langurs are well trained and no stray langurs have been picked off the street.I have also mentioned in my previous blog, about how efficiently and successfully animals are used to protect from other animals, for instance, protecting livestock and farms from attacks of other animals. If nobody has been critical of those( there's no reason to be really!) and taken them for granted, why then, are people acting as if this is a whole new alien concept?

Yes, India may be taking a huge chance by introducing the animal guards in a mega international event. For that matter, no venture be it tried and tested or not could be entirely risk-free, especially if it concerns the entire world. You never know, India may be setting a trend, which others may appreciate and follow later on.
Simultaneously however, there's a greater responsibility on the Organising Committee's shoulders to take extremely good care of the langurs who have been entrusted with a huge task.

On an optimistic note, I wish this new venture the very best and do hope the critiques to be patient rather than giving it an instant thumbs down.