Indal and the bananas

My stay in Bihar for almost half a decade entailed a decent amount of travelling. It really was an important part of the process to meet the given objective.

Notwithstanding the issues related to a developing infrastructure in Bihar at that time, travelling was an endearing experience particularly when the rains arrived. The greenery was rich backed with thick foliage, and sometimes I felt I was moving within  the lush greens of beautiful Kerala.

After a few visits across the state I settled for a Tata Sumo to travel in. It was indeed a tough vehicle no doubt, but the main reason for this choice was the driver Indal who always came along with the Sumo.

Indal was professionalism personified.  Just about twenty years of age, he was surprisingly disciplined to the core. Punctual to a fault and bereft of any bad habits like  consuming intoxicants and mood lifters. Indal took his job extremely seriously and wanted to put in a good performance all the time. He  never spoke out of turn, and whenever he did speak he was very polite and respectful. He also knew the roads well which was an added advantage. He was well built too and therefore with all these virtues Indal became an obvious choice to travel with.

However, there was something very intriguing about this young man. Whenever we travelled he refused to eat or drink anything except bananas. Initially I didn’t notice, but quickly I realised that I had not seen Indal eat anything other than bananas. Wherever we stopped for tea or lunch, Indal  had bananas only. And one day I asked him about his fascination for the fruit.

I was surprised to hear Indal’s knowledge of the nutrient components of the banana and also the ease related to its consumption. It was a non messy fruit, good for health  and economical at the same time. The economics of it had a large bearing on Indal’s liking for the fruit. He wanted to help out his family and make them comfortable and had therefore started to work at a very young age and sometimes he had to do with just bananas.

I had promised Indal that if I ever wrote a book on my stay in Bihar, I would definitely write a chapter on him. This blog is a tribute to that young man. Indal was truly inspirational and I have to say he never preached but actually practised professionalism in his own way. I hope he succeeds in his endeavours and keeps up his tryst with bananas.

Indal, I have kept my promise today.