Where Did The Photo Of The Leaning Monkey Wearing Red Pants Come From? The Introspective Indian Monkey Meme Explained

Monkey memes will never leave the internet hive mind, and the image of a monkey leaning against the wall deep in thought is the latest evidence of the phenomenon. The popular Indian meme features a monkey wearing what appear to be red pants, which are sometimes called pajamas or a dhoti in Hindi.

The monkey meme is part of a host of monkey and ape-related memes that are popular in India, including the Pakda gya! (Caught!) meme and the smiling makeup monkey meme. Here's a history of the leaning monkey wearing red pants meme.

Where Does The Original Image Come From?

The definitive origin of the sad leaning monkey wearing red pants is currently unknown, however, a few differently colored versions of the meme exist online. Some uses of the meme featured a cropped frame with a relatable text or anecdote written on it. For example, the image below simply read, "There is much poverty (in my life)."

How Is The Leaning Monkey Wearing Red Pants Used In Memes?

Some of the early uses of the meme were to share similarly disaffected yet humorous anecdotes. The earliest known use of the meme shows someone using it to share how cold the winters were in North India that year. Other people used the template alongside the phrasal template "Dheere dheere samajh aa raha hai" to share funny quips. One person shared a meme that said, "I'm starting to understand why my parents respond to all my texts with 👍🏽."

How Can I Use The Leaning Monkey Meme?

The beauty of monkey memes is that their human-like mannerisms and appearance make them the perfect template to share pretty much anything. However, the leaning monkey meme in particular has gathered a reputation for being contemplative with his thoughts, so the right way to use the meme is to go into /r/ShowerThoughts mode.

For the full history of the leaning monkey with red pants meme, be sure to check out our entry on the template here for even more information.