We started our month of September with a theme; let’s close it with some joy and a few laughs.

Because in between, just like our mid-life and mid-career, we learnt some heavy stuff(enough of that)

So today, I come to you with a funny anecdote from my life and let’s laugh it all out.

On a beautiful winter morning, I sat beneath a group of trees in my courtyard, and was trying hard to find the birds chirping on them, but I could not really see any of them.

I settle down to mindfully listen to the chirps. I wonder if they are talking about me, while I look for them mindfully through the leaves and bushes, but I can only hear their sweet chirps.

For the past few months, I have shifted my self-reflection space and mindfulness practice to sitting below these trees, instead of the terrace. The morning sun plays hide and seek, and I make the most of it by thoroughly enjoying the warmth of the sun caressing my face.

However, this is not out of choice but because I’m left with no choice by the new intruder.

My terrace has a new occupant, an old rhesus Monkey which lives far away on the hill of a temple, a few buildings away from my house, and has found solace on my neem tree. He is making frequent rounds to the trees for his share of sunbathing, as ours is the only house in the colony with full-grown trees, from Neem, Ashoka, Copper field to a single tall Coconut Tree, they are spread all around with their branches welcoming birds of all kinds to rest and reside.

My rhesus friend has self-invited himself and also joined the party!

A few weeks ago, on a regular day, as I headed to the terrace for my share of sunshine and me-time, still climbing the staircase, on the first floor, I could hear someone landed with a huge thud, I paused to wonder because birds do not carry so much weight, and besides my mother there was no other person in our house.

I thought to myself, who may have landed from the sky in this broad daylight?

Then I saw my new friend -the rhesus Monkey swinging on the branches from the balcony to the neem tree, and within a fraction of a second, he was on the main branch intertwined with a bougainvillaea and a wild climber and using the climber base, he spread himself all out and started to wind down and relax.

I ran for my life, as if an old trauma had triggered, catching my breath at the ground floor, I looked up and saw him watching me with keen observation.

I wonder what he thought of me?

Maybe he was trying to understand where the natural selection went wrong, and looking at the acclaimed human species before him, trembling and petrified by his presence.

The same adventurous day I also had an appointment for my mother in the nearby diagnostic center for an ECG and the driver was at the entrance waiting for me to respond, while I was all engrossed closely watching my friend above me spread out on the tree lost in his own world.

Between me and the entrance gate, the entire space under the tree, he spread out and slept.

I called the driver and asked him not to come inside, instead, to look above and pause, the moment he gazed above, the driver made an about turn and dashed out of the gate.

After a few minutes, I called the driver to check if our friend was still there. The driver replied yes, and then I asked him to wait.

This went on for a good thirty minutes, where from time to time the driver and I kept sneaking through our respective spaces to see if the monkey was done with his siesta!

My mother was puzzled at my behaviour and asked me why I couldn’t shoo him off, as we were getting late for the tests. I told her If only I were so courageous, to which she responded with a teasing smile, reminding me of the various resilience concepts I have lectured her and all my clients on various occasions.

I told her this is a very different kind of resilience one need to deal with those with whom we share our ancestry.

After his share of rest, my rhesus friend left only to return every day at the same hour, on the same branch and resting for the same time period.

When he left, I had a sigh of relief and immediately shared the good news with my driver, who seemed to be equally courageous like me.

On my way back home, discussing with my mother her healthy ECG test reports, I took the entire credit for her good health, lecturing her on the importance of a calm mind and inner self and how one can attain that and can fight any fears………..

Before I could conclude my sermon to my mother and the driver, I went silent, ………..

Now I saw my Monkey friend, instead of the tree, was sitting at the entrance of the gate to welcome us.

Little Joys of Life This blog post is part of the series titled “Little joys of Life” through which I come to you with stories and experiences from my life and share the code of happiness, spreading joy through the funny side of an ordinary life.

© Mehnaz Amjad 2017-2025

Mehnaz Amjad | Coach Hyderabad, India.