Four Monkeys - A Tale of Twists - Part 2 - Mitrabhedam

2. मित्रभेदम् - Losing Friends

But as they say, 'Two swords can't fit in one sheath'.  Ghati's psyche did not allow him to lie subservient to Karatala for long. Particularly when Karatala started to elevate his own Roman-born daughter in law up the hierarchy of the troop. This supposed nepotism really irked the ego of Ghati. And when you add to it the fact that the beneficiary was a “foreigner”, the result was too much to bear for someone like Ghati, who in reality, did not disagree with the ideas of Pinaka. So, one fine day, a few years ago, a disgruntled Ghati returned back to Matangaranya, and started yet again, his attempts to gain respect in his society.

As time progressed, the duo of Pushkara and Dhanu-Shiri became increasingly influential in the forest.  However, the newfound power had gone into the heads of both Pushkara and Dhanu-Shiri and fractures started to develop in their partnership. Camaraderie started to give way to snide remarks.

On one hand, Dhanu-Shiri was adamant and of the view that only a local can be the real leader of the forest and outsiders can only act as supporters. While on the other hand, Pushkara's logic was very simple - "Gorillas are naturally much more stronger than Macaques". However, they stuck together, to stay in power.

This naturally got Ghati quite worried and he reached out to his old ally Karatala for help in Indraprastha.  Meanwhile, the langur had already lost hold over his supposed 'strong-hold' near Prayaga and also his citadel in Khandavaprastha. In fact, a new troop of chimpanzees, had successfully pulled off a coup against Karatala and overthrew him from the throne of Khandavaprastha. Karatala, therefore saw Ghati's invitation as a golden opportunity to revive some lost pride. Thus,  the renewed team of the wily Ghati and the old hand Karatala was also noticeably gaining influence in the forest.