MIND THE MONKEYS

Nature walks, heritage walks, food walks — we've been there, done that. How about experiencing the Bandar Walk, which invites residents to look closer at the monkeys that have long shared our streets, temples, and trees?

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

UR city is home for us all. And the monkeys. The rhesus macaque, one of the most common species in northern India, is a familiar sight in Delhi—perched on trees, trotting along streets, or peering into balconies.

Often dismissed as a nuisance, these monkeys, primatologist Taniya Gill says, are just deeply misunderstood. “No one likes these macaques, but they’re completely misunderstood,” they say. An anthropology graduate with a PhD on the behaviour of Delhi’s rhesus macaques, Gill led the group through the Kamla Nehru Ridge recently, decoding the behaviour of the city’s simian residents.

The Bandar Walk, organised by There Is No Earth B, a collective with over 13000 volunteers across the country that focuses on climate action and sustainability, was the first of its kind for the group, interested in expanding their nature experiences beyond bird and butterfly trails. Gill, who began the monkey walks earlier this year, says these are meant to be educational, raising awareness about coexistence. “The real issue is that people are scared of monkeys, and if I just tell them they shouldn't be, it doesn’t help,” Gill tells TMS.

Aditya Shukla and Alia, postgraduate students from Jamia Millia Islamia, arrived early out of curiosity. The duo who has often been on various heritage and nature walks across the city says that they have never been on a Bandar Walk. “Our shared fascination for monkeys as a meme and cultural reference brought us here,” they say. “I was fascinated to learn about their social structures—there is even evidence of queer relationships among them,” adds Shukla.

Macaque manual