“IT WAS A FALSE ALARM”: A BANANA PEEL SAGA

It was an ordinary morning and I was on my way to have the usual Alooparathas, the national food of the north. As I walked past the stores to the college mess, a yellow gleam caught my eye. It was a banana peel, resting on the pavement, like a misplaced step waiting to happen. In what other way would you find a banana peel on the walkway, in a campus known for its cleanliness? I blamed the dogs and continued walking. (Yeah, social responsibility didn’t work that time, as the peel wasn’t in a condition to be taken by hand and disposed, so I didn’t).

For a split second, an odd thought flickered through my mind — a whimsical notion that this peel held some mystical significance, a spick of fate waiting to be deciphered. Ridiculous, I thought. Yet, that feeling lingered, pruning curiosity. Was it a signal, a symbol waiting for interpretation, or just a discarded piece of fruit?

I decided to entertain the notion, weaving a tale around this object. Maybe it was a sign of caution, a reminder to tread carefully amidst uncertainties. Perhaps it symbolized simplicity, urging me to find joy in the ordinary. Was it a reminder of life’s unpredictability, the unexpected slip-ups we encounter? Or a metaphor for seizing opportunities, even the ones concealed beneath a banana’s skin?

I was transported into a different world, and ironically, that happened. My contemplation led me to slip on an entirely different peel — the realization that not everything holds a grand meaning. Sometimes, a banana peel is simply that — a banana peel. IT WAS A FALSE ALAARRMMMMM !!!

In this moment of clarity, I chuckled at the absurdity of over-analyzing a fruit’s skin. Life’s messages aren’t always wrapped in colourful parcels; sometimes, they’re as straightforward as a slippery peel on the pavement, reminding us to embrace the unexpected twists with grace. Not everything that you see around you is a signal to something profound. It’s you’re your mind playing games on you. And if it really is one damn signal, it’ll find a way to come to you. Ask your mind to go on a vacation, and meanwhile, you take decisions. Classify signals as alarms and false alarms, to not go slipping on the peel again.

And so, I left behind the mystique I’d attached to that peel, embracing the simplicity of its true nature — just another fleeting sight. It was a reminder to not think too much or to not give too much value to anything around.

High-five !!