A Banana Story

Doing the Tango ... alone

When the Japanese occupied … the then Malaya … in the 1940's … they issued a currency … that had the picture of banana trees. After the war … folks here referred to … ' banana currency ' … as a way of conveying the experience … of something of value … that has since lost its distinction. I'm reminded of that story … in connection … with my own banana experience … recently.

The banana plant in the garden … had yielded a bunch … that I harvested … and placed in the house … to ripen. Over the period of a week … as I checked on it … in the plastic bags … it continued to remain green … but the color had lightened slightly. I was simply taking a casual view of it … as I walked past … and figured I'll wait for the characteristic deep yellow color.

Today … I noticed a blackish color … at the stems … and took out all of them to take … a closer look. Some of them were soft … to the squeeze. So I peeled one or two … ate them … and realized … they had the texture … of fully ripe bananas. Immediately … my lights started flashing … on the realization … that … here's another new experience … with nature itself … that I often attach … the usual expectations.

My problems with trust … associated with people … is still on the mend … but in my grand pronouncements … and immersion in the beauty of nature … I had found a reliable basis … of consistency with beliefs. Not always … it appears. My experiences with cooking … vegetables … onions and garlic … has demonstrated that … it still depends on how man handles it on a hot stove … but does not turn out right … just because its sourced from nature.

Handling fruits and leaving them … out in the open in humid weather … taught me a few lessons … on my actions with regards … the promises of nature. So when I encountered ripe green bananas today … it was simply another instance … of man's interaction … with nature … in a relationship … that has come to be … awkwardly embarrassing … in the way I used nature as a reliable basis of trust … to prove the notion of distrust … in people.

A former boss I worked for … used to say … ' its only when people say … don't worry … is when I start to worry.' Taking things for granted … in a business environment … involving monies invested … becomes a delicate issue of balance … and sobriety … in attentiveness. A good business executive checks it out … and extends beyond his perceptions … to test his views. Its particularly important … when dealing with new products … and fashion ideas.

In faith … we have the awful reports … of belief in a God … that has since let us down … in conditions … and in contradiction of the assurance … that God is an immutable part of our experiences. But the issue has a closer perspective to it … in comparison to the way … we summarily adopt a view … to assuage our aching feelings. Such a closer view … engages our individual natures … and is a testament … to our efforts … to cultivate our belief … instead … of blindly following.

I had sent my experiment with plants … to the journal ' Nature '… to place on record … the findings … and to share my experiences … on the condition of man. I received a rejection note yesterday … that the journal … does not have an interest in the study. I have been reflecting on that … and making a note … of the way … we weigh issues as to value and importance … in these times. No doubt … a new view … assures us at some level … but apparently not the level we seek.

In particular … I was wondering about … the perceived pettiness … of flower plants and bananas … that are engaged … as experiences … in connection with faith … or with the issues of self awareness. The attitudes I encounter … reflect their tremendous size and scope of engagements … big no doubt … ground breaking … and relies on a different practice of object orientation … in respect of belief. Perhaps if angels descended from heaven … in front of our eyes ...

Its a reflection of what we have grown into as a society … and says much about the peculiar difficulties we create for ourselves … on account of our specific bias … on issues. Eventually down the road … is it any surprise … that we find ourselves tasked for our responsibilities … on the issues? I encounter arguments … in my own individual discourses … about the peculiar difficulties … that I encounter in search of self awareness … as if implying that it ought to be easier.

At heart … is the notion we create … of our unilateral self approvals … that contradict … with what the reality of life … brings to our attention. In particular … it refers to finding out ourselves … see with our own eyes … ask if we don't know. And yet … the bias we are subject to … like harnesses … holds us back from freeing ourselves … and attaining a fresh view. To laugh at ourselves … may be the new skill to develop. It redefines happiness … as a state of mind … not a personal expression.

The Buddha … in his writings … refers to love as a ' state of mind.' That certainly comes into a fresh perspective today … in relation to the human condition. And it would appear … that … that … is not a banana story.