The big fight and BANANA bunch

Coconut and Banana are two great fruits and daily life hardly moves in Southern India without touching these fruits.  No function or festival is complete without use of banana fruits and leaves.  Banana trunks decorate all pandals and food served in banana leaf bestows its own warmth and festivity to the occasions.  This is also true of many other parts of India and Asia.   Banana is a popular fruit all over the world and consumed due to rich carbohydrate, protein, vitamin and mineral content.   There are many different variety and of varying sizes and tastes including some varieties used as vegetable as well.  Every single part of the banana plant is used for some purpose or other just like coconut tree.  One banana trunk provides fruit only once in its life time and hence the famous saying in Kannada:  "ಬಾಳೋನಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಮಾತು; ಬಾಳೆಗೆ ಒಂದು ಗೊನೆ!", meaning "A person who  lives  in a truthful and righteous path lives by his words once given,  just like banana has one bunch of fruit in its lifetime".

Banana fruits develop from the banana heart (stem), in a large hanging cluster known as a bunch; each bunch has many tiers, sometimes as many as 18 to 20, and each tier has several fruits.   A bunch can have varying number fruits  and a big bunch can have as many as 200 fruits.   Whenever I see a big banana bunch hanging in a shop, I remember a fight between two distinguished persons in the society and my being caught in the crossfire.   This is an incident that happened two decades ago when I was working as a Branch Manager of the Bank in a medium sized city.

A senior officer retired from service after a long and distinguished tenure in the Government and returned to his small city for settling down after retirement.   He had some lands and own house on the outskirts of the city.  His wife had already established a society for training and helping rural artisans to secure gainful employment.  Many villagers from neighborhood areas were getting the benefit  of the training and marketing support given by the society.  Both the retired official and his wife were highly respected and revered in the surrounding areas.  With the full time support of the retired officer, the community was expected to get full benefits of the different developmental programs of the government for various weaker sections of the society.  During our marketing efforts we could establish contact with them and secure their multiple accounts opened with the bank.  In short, the portfolio of these individuals and the society was a valuable source of business for the Bank.

One of the traders in the city had an account with the bank since the branch was opened in the place and the portfolio of the trader and his associates was also a valuable business source for the bank.  The owner of the firm was a highly knowledgeable person and also holding a representative post in the local trade body.  He was an expert in the various laws and banking practices and would catch any mistake by the bank in the conduct of the accounts immediately.  He was also a personal friend and we would discuss some of the latest developments occasionally over a cup of coffee in the evenings.

Those were the days of manual clearing of cheques.  Cheques deposited by various customers were aggregated by bank branches and then meet in a place called "Clearing House" to exchange them and settle the difference in the aggregate amounts receivable or payable through accounts maintained with the Clearing Bank.  Any returned cheque, for insufficiency of funds or any other reason was being settled in a smaller clearing in the evening.   Once the time for returning of cheques is past all unreturned  cheques were treated as paid and the customers were free to withdraw the amounts at their convenience.

One day I received a call from the Branch Manager of another Bank requesting us to accept a return of cheque outside the clearing and across our counters.   Though this is an exception, such requests are sometimes made and met also as a matter of  co-operation among the banks due to operational reasons.  The cheque to be returned was presented through  the account of the trader friend.  I informed the banker friend that as the prescribed time was already over, I could accept his request only if my customer agrees to it and I would seek his concurrence before acting.  When I contacted the trader customer, he categorically said that  the cheque should not be accepted at any cost and any contrary action is at our risk and responsibility and he would hold us responsible for the value of the cheque.  He was well within his rights to take such a stand and  I conveyed to the other Banker that we were unable to accept the request.   About an hour later the Banker friend telephoned again and informed me that the cheque was issued by the retired senior officer who was also our client and they had personally requested us to accept the return as a special case.  We again conveyed our inability to meet the request.

Later in the evening, the retired Officer and his wife came to the bank to plead their case.   They had purchased certain items for the society from the trader and now they wanted to return some of them and exchange some others.  The trader was not accepting the proposition and they wanted our help in coming out of the situation.   I was now caught between two valuable clients of the Bank.  If no action is taken, Society clients will be unhappy.  If acted, trader client will be unhappy besides holding us responsible for the value of transaction.   I requested the society friends to wait till the next morning to enable me to explore some solution to their problem.  Next morning I met the trader friend in his shop and pleaded the case of the society.  Initially he firmly declined any retraction in his position and stuck to his guns.   After some more persuasion and explaining my own personal friendship with both the parties he agreed to take back the items with some conditions.   With this window of opportunity I contacted the Society friends to meet the trader and sort out the matter amicably.  By evening I received phone calls from both the parties that the matter was resolved amicably.   Trader friend thanked me for recognizing his rights and acting fairly and the Society people thanked for getting them out of the jam.   There was no need for returning the cheque and both banks were not in the picture in the settlement between the two parties.

A week later I got a call from the Society Secretary that they have sent me a small banana bunch grown in their lands as a token of appreciation for resolving the issue.  When the banana bunch arrived on my table it was no small bunch, but had 20 tiers with nearly 200 fruits.  The big bunch was hung in the stationery room, with full packing to provide protection from attack by rats in the night.  After two days the fruits were fully ripe and ready for consumption.  The bunch was hung near the cashier's cabin and all customers visiting the branch that day were given one fruit.  The reports were unanimous; the fruits were very tasty.  Some customers used to ask me later as to when they would get the fruit again.   I would jocularly tell them that it would be when the next dispute is amicably settled.

I ate all your bananas....

I was remembering the Mathematics teacher who taught the unforgettable lesson "Zero multiplied by anything is Zero". He was popularly known by his initials SR. He was a strict disciplinarian and a versatile man with many talents. He was a very capable man and could handle tough situations with ease.

Indian Cricket depends on Rahul Dravid for doing all the tough work. He will be called upon to do all the donkey work and to play in South Africa and England on the bouncy pitches and ignored for other series. This BCCI appears to have learnt this from Government of India. Government of India depends on Teachers for all the jobs meant for workhorses. Whether it is Census or Election or Survey, teachers are deputed. There was a Panchayat Election when I was studying in 10th standard, in 1967 or 1968. As usual, teachers were to be drafted to act as Presiding Officers and Polling Officers. A preliminary meeting was called by the Tahasildar who was the Returning Officer for the elections in the taluk. SR was living on the same street as we did and being known to each other my father and SR were sitting side by side in the meeting. When it came to allotment of the Officers for the Kodihalli booth, the Tahasildar asked SR to be the Presiding Officer and my father was one among the three Polling Officers allotted to that booth.

Kodihalli is a relatively big place and had maximum voters for a booth. The village had a history of group rivalries and was among the sensitive booths in the Taluk. Each Polling Booth is run by by a Presiding officer with three assistants called Polling Officers; first one to verify the voter's identity and call out his name loudly to enable the agents of the contesting candidates to mark off in their copies of lists to avoid double/duplicate voting, the second to hand over the ballot paper and obtain signature of the voter as acknowledgement (in those days it was mostly Thumb Impression) and the third to place the indelible ink mark on the left index finger (if the voter does not have the left index finger, then the right index finger; if that is also not available then some other available finger etc. as defined by the rule book!). The Presiding Officer sits with a Polling Box, sealed at the start of polling process in the presence of representatives of contesting candidates,  placed in front of him and watches the entire process till the voter deposits the ballot paper in the Ballot box. He has the responsibility of intervening in case of disputes and ensure free and fair election in the booth. He is also bestowed with special powers to take care of emergent circumstances. Each booth is also provided with a Police Constable and a Home Guard to assist formation of ques and maintenance of orderly polling in the booth. All the polling staff are required to collect the polling material and camp at the booth overnight. Their duty is over only when the entire polling material along with sealed Vote Boxes are handed over to the Returning officer's representative. Any violation attracts severe penalty. With the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines, issue of Ballot Paper is dispensed with but the other procedure remains the same.

I was well versed in the poll procedure as a student since I used to read the Instruction Manual my father used to bring with him. The Presiding Officer has the powers to appoint a boy to serve water to the voters and polling staff and help in the other errands. The boy is also paid a small honorarium for this job. Almost in every election some teacher or the other used to take me along with them to do this job. This was mainly because I was able to count and seal unused ballot papers, Challenge and Tender votes and fill in other summary documents of the polls in neat handwriting. Challenge and Tender votes arise when a voter finds that his vote is already cast when he comes to the booth, Challenges the vote already cast and exercises his right by paying the prescribed nominal fee or when the identity of the voter is challenged by rival agents of candidates.

Kodihalli is ten miles from Kanakapura. SR and my father were strict vegetarians and there were no hotels in Kodihalli in those days. Polling staff are not permitted to accept any hospitality from the local people due to political affiliations, but this rule is generally broken by consensus between the Polling staff and agents of candidates. My father ordered me take his lunch from our home around noon to Kodihalli which was a half an hour ride by bus from Kanakapura. He also suggested that I should ask SR so that his lunch bag from his home could be carried along with my father's lunch bag. SR gladly agreed as it solved a major problem for him as well. In the bargain I lost the chance to work as a "Helper" in that election.

I collected both lunch bags and went to Kodihalli around noon on the next day. When I arrived at the Polling Booth, in a school building,  the atmosphere was a bit tense. There were heated exchanges between rival groups outside the booth. PC and Home Guard were trying their best to control the situation. I went inside the booth and kept the lunch bags in an adjoining room and sat on a stool watching the goings on. Tempers rose and within a few minutes two groups led by the rival candidates barged into the polling room. They shouted at the Presiding Officer and complained that the other group was bringing bogus voters. Polling staff and myself were afraid that the situation may go out of control. SR was trying to pacify both the groups and convince them that voters were screened strictly and irrespective of what was happening outside, polling in the booth was absolutely fair and in order. One person in the group rushed towards the polling officer holding the ballot papers.

This was the moment when strong action was required. SR who was cool all along suddenly raised his voice. Like he used to speak at the school assembly with over 300 students. "All of you will  get out of the hall immediately. Otherwise I will cancel the polls and request the Returning Officer to order for a re-poll. The entire process of elections will get postponed. If any one touches the polling material or polling staff I will order their arrest for violation of poll code". His booming voice and body language had the desired effect. No candidate wanted delay in the polling process. The booth was cleared of the intruders and polling resumed. The atmosphere continued a bit tense but nothing untoward happened thereafter.

After sometime SR and my father had their lunch in the adjoining room; SR first followed by my father. When I was about to collect the empty boxes and bags SR came to me and asked "Where did you get those bananas? They were very good. Did my wife give it or you purchased in the shop?". I told him that they were Nanjanagud Rasa Baale, a variety grown extensively near Mysore and Nanjanagud area and actually grown in our backyard. They are small in size but very tasty.  "Are keshav, you should have told me. I was tense and the fruits were very sweet. I ate all your bananas and left only two for your father!".  I told him not to worry about it as we had many more at home. My father could compensate quite well in the evening. The three of us had a hearty laugh.

Those ten bananas broke the wall of fear between SR and myself. I was able to talk to him and interact freely thereafter. The only regret is that Nanjanagud Rasa Baale along with Butti Chiguru betel leaves and Mysore's famous Eranagere brinjal are no longer available. These specie are now lost and we are left only with Hybrid variety.