Kandu geri monster
The photo below seems to have gone viral in the Maldives. The photo was snapped by someone from the police station in the island of Kulhudhuffushi in HDh. Atoll and according to the news, has caused panic and fear among some in the island and elsewhere. Haveeru Daily reported that even the police have now started to look into it. All because the black "thing" seen behind the kid in the photo is not easily discernible as being something we are familiar with. The general conclusion seems to be that it is an unknown creature. Some are calling it a "kandu geri" (hippopotamus), some consider it to be a "fureytha" (jinn) and some consider it to be a walrus or seal. Anyone who has ever seen a hippopotamus or seal or walrus will easily dismiss those claims.
Original picture
I tend to agree with the people who think it is just a woman in a black abaya and large black "buruga" (burka). The person who took the photo apparently says that he did not notice the thing at the time he took the picture and only noticed it later when he was copying the pictures from the camera to a computer. That really is clue number 1 - people tend to ignore things they are familiar with. He most certainly had seen the "thing" at the time but ignored it because he had seen a woman in the background and was not really concerned with what she was doing or how she appears frozen-in-motion in the picture.
Processed to highlight various aspects
Clue number 2 comes from processed pictures where light levels have been manipulated to show more details, as I have done in the picture above. The thin material of the burka appears against the background as being translucent. The form of the human body is also discernible with the limbs and the cloth wrapping around it. Abayas and burkas are designed to obfuscate the human form and it performs its job well for the woman in the snapshot!
Will this madness persist and a myth like the Loch Ness monster be created in the Maldives? What shall it be called? "Kandu geri" monster? I doubt the woman will be flattered.
Original picture
I tend to agree with the people who think it is just a woman in a black abaya and large black "buruga" (burka). The person who took the photo apparently says that he did not notice the thing at the time he took the picture and only noticed it later when he was copying the pictures from the camera to a computer. That really is clue number 1 - people tend to ignore things they are familiar with. He most certainly had seen the "thing" at the time but ignored it because he had seen a woman in the background and was not really concerned with what she was doing or how she appears frozen-in-motion in the picture.
Processed to highlight various aspects
Clue number 2 comes from processed pictures where light levels have been manipulated to show more details, as I have done in the picture above. The thin material of the burka appears against the background as being translucent. The form of the human body is also discernible with the limbs and the cloth wrapping around it. Abayas and burkas are designed to obfuscate the human form and it performs its job well for the woman in the snapshot!
Will this madness persist and a myth like the Loch Ness monster be created in the Maldives? What shall it be called? "Kandu geri" monster? I doubt the woman will be flattered.
