The 120-odd monkeys in Lalbagh have one man to thank and that too a homeless one. For over two years now, Sarodev Shivshankar has been feeding them fruits every day, and nuts as occasional treats.
Clad in tattered clothes, Mr. Shivshankar sleeps out in the open near Lalbagh every night, but wakes up at 6 a.m. to ensure that the monkeys get their first meal at 6.30 a.m.
Most of the simians gather at the bamboo grove in the afternoon. “They refuse to eat in the dark, so I ensure that they are fed their second meal before sunset,” he says.
Mr. Shivshankar, an electrician and plumber, has a bitter past to relate. Shattered for leaving home after a property dispute, he came to Lalbagh with the intention of committing suicide.
But there he met a stranger who was feeding the monkeys. The stranger gave Mr. Shivshankar Rs. 1,000 to start a new life and tend to the monkeys.
Mr. Shivshankar accepted this as divine intervention, and since then he has been taking up odd jobs to feed the monkeys.
But with escalating prices of fruits, he is finding it hard to make ends meet. “It costs Rs.1,500 a day to feed all 120 of them. Passersby contribute a little. But, I get the most help from a noble man who pays Rs. 10,000 a month to fruit vendors around the area, who have been told to give me fruits to feed the monkeys,” he says.
Despite his penury, Mr. Shivshankar makes sure all the monkeys get sufficient food, even if he has to skip a meal.
