Monkey Business

Dear Ananya,

First off, thank you for giving me the opportunity to critique your story, Monkey Business! I love being a part of the Critic Circle, don’t you? Of course, I’ve been a member for over a decade now, so I’m lucky I know all the ins and outs.

What an imaginative piece that was. You could definitely tell your protagonist Madhu was off her rocker, talking to the monkey. As if a monkey could understand English! And of course, I get that if you trained a monkey for a long time in English, it would pick up a few words, but definitely not right away. Of course it was doubly confirmed that Madhu was mentally off when she looked into the monkey’s eyes and thought she saw a piece of her soul. Who does that kind of stuff? Great job depicting a crazy person!   

I did find it interesting that your protagonist’s name is Madhu. Isn’t that a Hindu demon? Very apt, given what Madhu does in the story is a little demonic, taking the law into her own hands by opening the monkey’s cage and letting it escape into the wild. I thought that she might get caught by the authorities and punished for her behavior, but she gets away with it all. Maybe there’s a follow up story where she goes to prison for a few months.

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading it, and look forward to reading more of your work.

Best,

Chloe

Dear Chloe,

Thank you so much for your feedback. It’s always great to get perspectives from different readers on what they found interesting or intriguing about the story. And of course what didn’t work.

My protagonist Madhu was definitely very traumatized due to her childhood experience of being locked in a cupboard for a month by her step-mother, without much food or water. She starts to empathize with other creatures who are imprisoned. And then, during the years she stops speaking completely, she develops a special bond with animals that ties to what she thinks she sees in the monkey’s eyes as an adult: a great sorrow. She starts to think about where lies the greater good, and to her, freedom rises to the top, more than the crime of opening a cage in a nature preserve. But given your feedback, I’m wondering if I need to rewrite a lot of this, so that these connections appear more clearly. 

I do not plan to write a follow up story where Madhu is imprisoned.

Separately, I chose the name Madhu as just a common Indian name, it wasn’t meant to evoke any sort of mythic figure, least of all a demon. Madhu actually means honey or sweet. Having grown up in India, I can’t say I know of any Indian demon by the name of Madhu. The demon that’s most well known in India is Ravana, who kidnapped Rama’s wife Sita.

Sincerely,

Ananya

Dear Ananya,

Madhu is indeed a demon in Hindu mythology. Here is a wikipedia link that explains who he is and what role he played. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhu-Kaitabha. 

My PhD was on the topic of Demons around the world so I am well versed in the specifics of demons. In fact, demonology, or the study of demons has been a passion of mine from childhood.

Demons are well recognized in the Christian tradition. They are often spirits who have been corrupted and they carry out the wishes of Satan. There are three types of demons in the Christian tradition: souls of the wicked dead, Nephilim, and fallen angels.

In Islam, demons are usually called Shayatin. They may do a number of evil things including leading human beings astray, bringing them to temptation, or encouraging mischief (and monkey-business! haha) amongst humans.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here. I even named my childhood dog Demon. Go figure!

Chloe

Dear Chloe,

Isn’t it fascinating what you can find on the internet these days? All sorts of things! This is such a wonderful illustration of how real life diverges from things you might read in a book, or facts you might pick up online.

India has 1.4 billion people, and I can assure you that hardly any of them have ever heard of a demon called Madhu. I polled thirty six of my Indian friends, forty eight of my Indian relatives and asked both my mother and father about a demon called Madhu. No one, I repeat, no one has heard of him. 

My grandmother did say that you might find practically any name you look up in our ancient texts and every name has some connotation or the other. But this is of no practical significance to anyone on earth. Except, perhaps, people who study demons or read wikipedia.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Ananya

Dear Ananya,

Of course I cannot profess to have lived in India or know a substantial number of its 1.4 billion people. In fact, I’ve never even been to India. But I don’t need to go there, or meet the people in order to know things. For instance, I would know that Delhi is the capital of India, even if I’d never been to Delhi or never met any people from Delhi. Though I have met some people from Delhi, and they were delightful. 

In that same spirit, we do know that Madhu and Kaitabha are two demons who originated from the earwax in Lord Vishnu’s ears. There was an article on this in the Hindu on November 3, 2016. And another article on this was published in kamakoti.org. So it does appear that there exist at least some Indians in the vast Indian subcontinent who are aware of such a demon. Even though I have not met them and neither have you.

The bottom line is, Madhu is the name of a demon. 

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Chloe

Dear Chloe,

Yes, I acknowledge there is a demon called Madhu who exists in the Bhagavata Purana. 

But this has nothing to do with my story.

Ananya