Before moving to Delhi, I was scared of two things: the toxic air and monkeys. Now I know there is more to fear, and also more to delight in. Street dogs, and animals in general, are all over Delhi. The dogs roam certain neighborhoods in packs, I'm told, with perfect immunity. It is illegal in India to put dogs down. One day apartment-hunting, one such dog leaped on me. It sounds scary but wasn't. I didn't realize it at the time. I immediately panicked, cursing my inability to plan ahead and be vaccinated for rabies. Another place I was shown had thick green netting encasing the balcony. Monkey problem, the broker said. Case in point: the small monkey enjoying a banana on a ledge two houses away. As dusk broke one evening, mother monkeys with babies on their backs galloped across the ruins. The tree outside my balcony is full of parrots. Red-beaked crows and legions of pigeons crowd the skies and sidewalks. Great-winged bats flap through the inky night. I feared these creatures. But now Delhi feels like a emotionally-draining city full of emotional-support animals.
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