How a troop of Indian monkeys proved an old journalistic adage to be true

Whole families of macaques were playing, grooming and foraging for food while, just the other side of the windows, humans tried to get on with the business of running the country

Why Delhi's monkey infestation is wreaking havoc for Indian politicians

There’s an expression in journalism about the need to give readers a mix of stories, some uplifting tales to cut through the litany of grim or earnest news – the phrase is “light and shade”.

Last week, the shade was amply cast on my desk in Delhi by a set of key state polls in India, offering the clearest sign yet that the opposition Congress party can genuinely challenge Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP in this spring’s general election. The light, however, came in the unexpected form of a memo to all parliamentarians in the capital warning them about the menace of marauding monkeys in India’s seats of power.

Now, it must be said that writing about Delhi’s rhesus macaques has become something of a trope among foreign journalists posted here. One blogger has even provided the invaluable service of documenting such correspondence, dating back to the 1950s, in “The Monkey Inspector’s Report”.

Still, the fact that parliamentary circulars were being issued on the matter made it worth investigating. I had a particular troop of official-bothering monkeys in mind, and sought permission to film them at the foreign ministry’s offices. My contact there could not hide his amusement.

When I arrived at the offices, I thought the bright but chilly winter day might have scuppered my efforts – up the full length of the front of the building, there wasn’t a monkey in sight.

I asked around and some bemused office workers, who couldn’t understand my simian interest and said they just ignored the animals usually, suggested trying round the back.

There, sure enough, whole families of macaques were playing, grooming and foraging for food while, just the other side of the windows, humans tried to get on with the business of running the country.

Footage secured, I left the government offices and stepped out of the sun into a dark cab. As I did so, I checked my phone – reports were just coming through that Congress was forecast to beat Mr Modi’s BJP in three key heartland states. There it is, I thought: light and shade.

Yours,

Adam Withnall​

Asia editor