Friday, October 3, 2008

Amusing, funny or stupid?

Just read this article on The Guardian where it says Indian Railways has employed a man to pretend to be a monkey to scare of other monkeys. And its been working so far. I would certainly be amused if I was to come across such a sight. But then when I read the article I started thinking on what these poor people have to do to make ends meet. He does it to earn money. To provide for food and living for himself and family. Somehow I felt it can be quite humiliating for a person. Or probably not. Like they say it all depends on the outlook. He definitely sounds quite proud of himself. So as they say it all depends on the outlook.


I've extracted the article here. There is one video also available if you go to the article page.

Indian railway employs 'monkey-man' to protect passengers

42-year-old man walks around on all fours to prevent animals snatching food from travellers

James Sturcke, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 01 2008 15:56 BST

Walking round on all fours, with a tail sticking out of his red shorts and a brown face mask, Acchan Miyan scares the monkeys at Lucknow station, northern India.

Railway bosses insist their "monkey-man" is an effective way to protect their passengers from the mischievous animals, which are prone to snatch food from travellers and tear seat covers from trains.

The 42-year-old says he has been driven to the unusual profession by poverty, but is convinced that his efforts are helping passengers.

But it is hard to tell who is the more bemused, the passengers, or the remaining monkeys sitting around on roof rafters, munching on bunches of bananas, watching the show below.

11 comments:

  1. Hmmm ... yep ... this was on the local news a couple of days back.

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  2. i feel sad and happy at the same time. hmm atleast he has a job. :/

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  3. its all a perspective like they say when the stomach demands food everything can be done

    dont how to react on this

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  4. a nice post. I think it is good to see the positive in the situation, like you said, just to respect him.
    But, I wonder who came upon such an idea. who knows it was he who was doing thios shows and caught someone's attention. You see there are enough Jim Carreys in India on the streets!

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  5. i have gone through this sort of thoughts earlier...some of the malls entertain their customers with such job profiles like monkeys, mickey mouse and all..!!
    once i had asked one guy how much he is getting paid for his job...it was a mere 2000 INR for a twelve hour job 6 days and 4 hours on the seventh day..!!

    i was speechless..!!

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  6. "love is the one who masters all thing."

    Mawlana Rumi...for you.

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  7. it's strange the extents to which humans can go to earn a living. as they say "paapi pet ka sawaal hai..."
    yeah, the least we can do is not laugh at him... and respect him for doing an honest day's work...

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  8. Amusing, funny or stupid?

    None of these but Ironic!

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  9. ppl undergo such odds to make their living!

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  10. thats the irony of life ...

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