The banana plant in the backyard was drying up as expected in the summer and was awaiting the chop in preparation for some colder weather. But as the gardener went about his job, this is what he noticed.
We actually had summer bananas! That, even to his experienced eye, was unexpected. That was a couple of months ago!
Today, however, to our surprise, the fruit has actually begun to ripen and it should be ready to eat in a few days.

The bananas, however, are relatively smaller in size than what we got in the winter. That, of course, also led to the plant collapsing under its own weight, and that, too, when the fruit was raw. The result was we did not get to have the full benefit of the crop. Almost all of it was given away to cleaners and other workers, who were delighted to get their hands on the giant-sized fruit. Most of these workers, from Bangladesh and the South Indian state of Kerala, cook raw bananas as a delicious coconut-based curry which we from North India do not.
Since these pictures were taken a couple of days ago, one of the stems has collapsed, but not before the bananas were well on their way to being “yellow”. Many of them I have given away to friends, while some being devoured as dessert in our kitchen over the next few days.
There is almost nothing growing in the garden in these hot summer months, at least until the end of September, so these bananas are like the proverbial breath of fresh air! Of course, this is the natural cycle in this part of the world when the soil replenishes itself for the very productive season ahead!
There’s nothing without a reason as far as nature is concerned!