We are going bananas!

The movement calling for the banning of eating bananas is steadily growing and I hope the government will act before it is too late. This movement, which began with a call to ban eating bananas in a government school mid-day meal programme, is finding more supporters. It is reported that a draft bill for the banning of eating bananas, either in a public space or in the privacy of our homes, has been framed and is awaiting legislative approval. Many of us believe that is only a matter of time before the banana is labelled as a ‘holy fruit’ which will enable a smooth transition to the banning of eating bananas! 

As citizens of the country, it is incumbent upon us to come together to fight this new menace. Not only because banana is probably the most liked fruit in this country (full disclosure: it is my favourite fruit), but also because it is the cheapest fruit and supplies much needed nutrition to the poor. Bananas have also shown great adaptability unlike any other fruit. The much-loved panchamrutham (which is basically mashed bananas) is a great delicacy and fit for the gods. The banana is also not like other foods which can be classified into categories like breakfast, lunch and dinner. This fruit can be eaten at all times and eaten at all places. It has all kinds of vitamins, is one of the best sources of instant energy and as far as I know it has only one negative association with it — slipping on the banana peel. Thus, it is the most wholesome and cheap meal available to all of us. 

In such a situation, how can we accept the banning of eating these fruits? As of this moment, it is not that easy to fight back unless NGOs (and perhaps Sahitya Akademi award winners) come together to oppose this movement. If we have to fight this, we have to start with attacking the rationale for banning the eating of bananas. 

The most important reason for this ban is that bananas are now recognised (by the UN it seems) as ‘holy’ fruit. There are very good reasons for this: historically, the offering to gods in all the temples was bananas. It is a fruit fit for the gods and perhaps only for the gods. Fruits like apples and pineapples strictly are not to be offered to the gods, I am told. So partaking gods’ fruit is only a vanity of humans and must be avoided. It has also come to our attention that there are also scriptures which prohibit the eating of bananas since it is a holy fruit. One example of such a text is the Baaledharma Hannushastra, probably written in the early periods of the second millennium. 

However, we should take a strong stand and resist this banning of bananas. The need of the time is to counter this argument and we can do it in many ways. First of all, not all bananas are holy. There are many species of bananas, some of which are of local variety like the Yellakki in Karnataka. Although, across India, the Robusta variety is available, every region has its own set of indigenous bananas. So, one could argue that even if banana is labelled as a holy fruit, not all varieties have to be included in this list. There are desi varieties as well as imported ones. Perhaps we could consider these different varieties and choose one or two among them (preferably the foreign ones) to be banned. However, there is a potential problem in so doing since some might say that one should not discriminate based on how the bananas look, taste, smell and feel. They might argue that we should not discriminate against the Yellaki variety just because it is small or the Robusta just because it looks like it has chicken pox when it is ripe. Gods don’t discriminate, one would think, and they might prefer all these varieties equally. 

There are other problems however. For example, raw banana is by itself not offered to the gods but is cooked by many communities. There is a deeper philosophical question here: should raw banana be classified as a fruit or as a vegetable? If classified as a vegetable, would it then be outside the ban? But the problem in this case would be to decide what one should do when the banana ripens. The deeper question here is this: when the banana ripens to the correct degree how does it suddenly become holy? In other words, the question of when a thing becomes holy is an extremely important one and the case of the banana is a wonderful example of this puzzle. The Nendranga bananas, most famous in Kerala, are quite unpalatable when eaten by themselves (Keralites will ban me for saying this), but are wonderful when they are steamed or made into chips (they might revoke the ban now). Normally, temples don’t offer banana chips or steamed bananas to the gods so what should we do about the Nendranga? 

Therefore, I would request all those vociferously supporting the ban on eating bananas to pause and consider these problems. If they are not convinced, we can always meet and discuss this over a few ripe bananas. If nothing happens, then, of course, the Supreme Court is always there and it can decide on which of these varieties to ban. 

But in the meantime, and before we hear from the Court, we have been advised not to keep any bananas in our houses since that may incite the passion of those who are trying to protect the fruit from human desire. So, for security reasons, avoid keeping the following at home: bananas (we are unsure about unripe bananas but it is better to be safe and avoid even the unripe ones), any object resembling a banana (particularly those yellow coloured plastic models of bananas which anyway should be banned in my view), and any yellow coloured cylindrical or elongated object (unless they have attachments like hands and legs).

The author is a philosopher based in Bangalore