BEAUTY AND THE BANANA

Just as a statutory warning is printed on the cigarette pack, same should come with all the synthetic beauty products and even the natural, easily available home products, especially the ripe Bananas. Strangely, the home-front warnings do continue, but those are the ones paid least heed to, especially when you think the world knows better than your own folks do.

It was in the second year of graduation, I remember precisely the day to be a Sunday. Some newspaper had run a beauty tip for shiny bouncy hair - ripe banana paste. No time wasted, the paste was ready in a minute and applied in another 3 minutes. My father was busy in his morning newspaper, mom was shocked to see an eatable getting so ruthlessly wasted, but both had kept silent. Happily, I waited till the paste dried and I was getting impatient to see the bouncy, shiny long tresses. The next one hour was like a war-front. The dried paste was like glue dots on my hair, not even softening after half an hour soaking in water. That is when I realized, I might have to do away with my hair. Finally, the savior was called for - my Dad, and somehow we could rescue my hair from the beauty regime debacle. His first question was, how long were you supposed to keep it on? I had no answer for it, neither then, nor now. All I could think about was, 'Why hadn't they mentioned the time?'.

That was the first and last time I ever tried any random thing any random irresponsible person tells to do, to have fair skin, shiny hair, glossy lips and so on and so forth. You need a fair judgment, shiny wit, glossy intellect and so on and so forth, not the external polish, particularly not what people tell you to do. All we need to do is eat healthy, stay healthy, that's the secret behind Beauty, the Banana is just a fruit, do not let it be the beast to spoil your inner beauty.

Dad still says, "the thing that is meant to be eaten, can give the best result when eaten, not made a paste of and applied to your head!". So much for the Banana, that played the Beast in my life.