Monkeying around – One slipping tale of the spine !!

What agility! I looked at the creature in awe, as it lunged to the nearest sun-shade, while balancing on the railings of the bedroom balcony. That too with a baby tugged to its person! Daredevilry? Witnessing this, I could not have asked for more! A tightrope walker of a circus would bow out in shame, seeing our simian cousin in action! The monkey, that quintessential blueprint of human evolution, never fails to catch the eye. It is as much a crowd-puller as a cine star- the only difference being that the latter has not yet dared to walk the red carpet, threadbare. And of course, the mob maintains a safe distance from monkeys than attempting to surge like a Tsunami wave, as they do so for their heroic idols! You see,  our simian cousins can protract their claws and show off their canines anytime! You get the warning straight!

So, it was with extreme caution, I slipped into the balcony, to pick up the laundry from the clothes line. I definitely did not want to part with my precious belongings, even if it meant no takeaway from my premises for our evolutionary ancestors! I was carrying out the task at lightning speed(This is speaking relatively, as displacement in my present health condition meant waddling like a crone deprived of a walking stick.) I was about to "dart"(avoiding slipping, tripping and flipping) back to my room, when I saw something familiar hanging from the sunshade right above. Gorblimey! My spinal belt!!! That life saver during painful episodes of lumbar spine stress, had to be reclaimed!

I tried to pull away my spinal belt from its moorings! But there seemed to be some invisible force pulling it the opposite direction. Who was the unseen opponent playing tug-of-war with my belt? Had I been gifted with agility and a prehensile tail, I would have clambered on to the railing for a clearer view of the “high-above” and solved the mystery in no time! But darn the tail or agility, even the slightest mobility remained a herculean task. My feet(the left foot to be precise) dragged as if it was chained to a lead bearing! So I was deliberating as to what was to be done to dislodge my belt, when a furry rope like thing dropped down from the sun-shade. Now, I would have assumed this to be a rope, had it not started to sway playfully from left to right!  I did not have to speculate much about the source, for the owner of the furry-thingy made a steady descent with my belt, on to the railing.

I froze in terror, coming face to face with a monkey! (I am an animal lover, but I prefer comfortable distance with fellow creatures who were evicted from their natural habitat, simply to give way to the concrete jungle.) Of course, instead of fidgeting about the next move, I could have mustered the courage and said “Touche!” to the intruder. But that would have meant to act with swiftness, with least resistance from the pivots of the skeleton-muscular system. And, the pivot under question – my backbone, was spineless, literally(rather, the chain of vertebrae were preoccupied with their own jam sessions, and were sorting out spatial issues among themselves, causing a great deal of disturbance to the nervy team-mates in that channel). That explains as to why I could not risk a confrontation with the monkey! We looked each other in the eye and I pleaded truce, ready to let go of the belt. He seemed to stare into space(probably contemplating on giving me a scare or stay long enough to watch me pee in my pants?) But after a while, he left carrying my spinal belt with him as a prized souvenir!

I saw him spring to the neighbour's balcony, hang on to their money plant with aplomb(It reminded me of yesteryear Bollywood heroes attempting such feats trying to impress their lady love, but without much success). He was ready to make the next leap when required. What an astoundingly flexible body these creatures had! And, all of it attributed to their backbone! The fact that they were vertically challenged because of a horizontal spine, was insignificant! What remained was that they were a robust lot, with lesser scope for creaks and cramps that strike the upright humans!
Well, evolution worked against gravity to keep the spine vertical for the homo sapiens!
And, here I am, ready to go on all fours, in quest of my spinal belt!