Our house in Rishikesh had two stories, and the top floor had quite a narrow balcony all the way around it. One day, just Mani and I were alone upstairs, Katie and the others were down in the kitchen, when suddenly a monkey jumped onto the balcony near our room. He was not the friendly kind of monkey, and he was very big. Mani and I tried to frighten him away, but this monkey did not want to budge. He bared his teeth at us, and he was not smiling. He was letting us know that he was not frightened of us.

Now I knew that these monkeys are not at all afraid of women, and I had an idea. "Mani," I told her, "put on your slacks and draw a moustache on your face, then that monkey might think you're a man and go away!"

So Mani drew a moustache above her lip, put on her slacks, and got a stick. She sauntered over to the monkey and brandished her stick at him. Again he bared his teeth! He was not fooled. He knew that Mani was not a man, so we had to be patient until he left of his own accord.