Acchan Miyan: India's monkey man

Lucknow, Oct 2: Railway department have opted for a unique way to shoo away monkeys in Lucknow. Services of a man who has attired himself like a monkey have been roped in by the railways administration to scare away monkeys who have been a menace to the visiting passengers.

Dressed as a monkey, Acchan Miyan alias Gudde, a resident of Takvapur village has been working overtime to scare away monkeys from the Charbag railway station of Lucknow. Forty-two year old Acchan has been driven to this profession by his poverty. Earlier, he had dressed himself in various appearances, monkeyman happens to be his latest manifestation which is proving effective in scaring away monkeys.

"There were many monkeys here. But all of them have run away. People warned me that I will be eaten away by the simians. But I sacred them all the way. If I stay here for one week at the station, I will scare away all the monkeys," boasts Acchan. Earlier, Acchan used to entertain people through his art, but now he is doing a social service as well. Right now, he earns anything between 300-400 rupees per day. Passengers are optimistic that monkeyman's stay at the railway station for sometime more would drive away the remaining monkeys.

"There used to be many monkeys here, who would indulge in all kinds of mischief. At times they would tear seat covers of trains and on others they would snatch away bananas from passengers. Poor passengers will certainly be protected from monkey menace by Acchans's act," said Santosh Kumar, a passenger.

A Muslim by religion, Acchan has even started worshiping Hanuman. The monkeyman admits that he is doing the act simply for a living.

ANI