55-foot monkey demigod "invades"
my hometown of Brampton, Ontario

There’s plenty of controversy over a 55-foot statue of the Hindu demigod, Hanuman, which now towers over my hometown of Brampton, Ontario. You can see a photo of this imposing work of art in the Toronto Sun.

First of all, let me say, Brampton has to be one of the ugliest cities in Canada — an example of massive urban sprawl with little appreciable aesthetics. Any artistic touches to the city should be more than welcome.

Second of all, I think the statue does stand (no pun intended) for Canadian values. I suspect most people criticizing it have never taken the time to read a single page of The Ramayana — where Hanuman makes his first big appearance in the Hindu scriptures.

Too bad, because it’s an epic tale.

It kicks off with King Rama being kicked out of his kingdom and wrongfully exiled to the wilderness along with his wife Sita. Just when they are getting used to their jungle lifestyle, a shape shifting monster kidnaps Sita and imprisons her on the island of Sri Lanka. Rama is only able to find and rescue her with the help of this monkey-man named Hanuman.

It’s all symbolic. Especially Hanuman. The “monkey” represents human flesh which needs to be the servant of one’s soul, rather than the soul being the servant of the flesh. It’s about living for a higher purpose than eating, drinking and sleeping. It’s about facing the “shapeshifting” monsters in life. It’s about taking on important missions and getting the job done.

I don’t see any harm in it. Far better than the woke nonsense that’s destroying Canada.

I used to live in Florence only a few blocks away from Michelangelo’s 17-foot tall statue of David — another heroic figure whom the blue-haired, gender-confused, TikTok teens of today could use as a role model.

Maybe Hanuman will start a trend. I’d love to visit Brampton in a few years and find it has become an open-air art gallery of mythical and historical figures reminding us all to do something heroic with our lives.

— John C. A. Manley

PS I own and would highly recommend Romesh C Dutt’s translation of The Ramayana. It reads much like a rhyming Shakespeare play — with a Lord of the Rings meets Marvel Comics feel to it. This is one of the civilization’s most ancient and celebrated stories. Don’t monkey around and go buy yourself a copy: http://blazingpinecone.com/shop/ramayana/

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/