Conservative Cactus

I learned conservation from a Cactus. That botany teacher explained how it absorbs moisture, and sustains life in a desert. It was a typical example of leaf modification. Much later, it occurred to me that it has an opposite spendthrift in a Banana plant. This one absorbs lot of water, and lets out too! Fortunately, I had a taste (literally) of how it feels when I could experience, the letting out of its water, when I ate my meals from a Banana leaf. In south of India, there is a tradition, which is still in vogue. Meals are served on a banana leaf, especially when the diners are distinguished guests. Another subtle aspect is that even today, the intrinsic properties of this banana leaf are put to great use, preserving the rich knowledge handed down through generations, and the credit goes to a few people, somewhere around Erode, a small city in the state of Tamilnadu, South of India. Banana leaves are used to reduce obesity. The paste of the leaves is applied all over the body, and then the leaves are also used as a ‘bandage’ for specified period of time, for several days.

When it comes to us, human beings, we look for uniformity of behavior! Somebody’s very chemistry is inclined towards being conservative, and they get branded as ‘misers’. Somebody else spends as fast as they earn or accumulate and they are branded as spendthrifts. We see married couples, who are conservative as a pair or spendthrifts as a pair. When they are sought to be balanced, they end up quarrelling with each other! A cactus and a banana plant can reside comfortably side by side. They lack self awareness. But when people team up, consciously, and decide to complement each other, respecting their individualistic ‘chemistry’, then it is a win-win situation. Other wise, it is a blame game of good and bad.

Now, when a question came up, asking if ‘good’ needs a ‘bad’, the whole issue had to be looked differently. It felt nice to see an asker taking efforts to give a routine and dull-looking question a poetic form. It indicates a sincere thirst, to know. And I did not hesitate to part with my views.

Psn(3rd Sept., 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100903032514AAfsK69

Do you agree that every "good" needs a "bad"?
I have expressed my views about this topic in form of a poem given below. Please read it & tell me whether you agree with me or not. Thanks.
Could you tell me what is good and what is bad?
Why are we happy and Why are we sad?
Is this question so sillythat no one would care to answer it?
Or is this question so difficultthat no one can find the answer to it?
Is a person born good or bad?
Or is it that the person makes himself good or bad?
Or is it that the person is what we consider as good or bad?
If only good is needed in this universe,Then why is bad kept in it?
Does good need a bad?
Or bad need a good?
Or they come on their own?
Can we smile without facing sorrow?
Can the universe be recreated without being destroyed?


My answer:
Yes, unless there are ten people who are bad, I cannot be good.
Even to know that I am a "human" being (as a species), I need another 'sample' (another human being!). Comparison is the key. And still deeper, mind is the key. And still deeper, mind cannot function until it first divides something. The declaration of a division is judgment. There cannot be a single thought which is not a judgment in some way! Some decisions, conclusions, judgments, inferences (or whatever) is arrived at by comparison. This comparison could be selective or calibrated.
It is wonderful to see an impartial look at good and bad, viewing it as a bare concept.