LOOKING FOR IMPERFECTION

 In a world full of standards, competition and perfectionism, here’s why you might consider looking for imperfection too.

It was the last day at the farm, or to be specific, the last few hours before we left the farm. We had finished our training late in the evening yesterday and today we were all set to head back home.

For the past three days, we had been staying on the farm, all we focused was on training and learning, and little did we take time to explore around. So, on the final day, we decided to take a tour around the farm, the place where we had felt at home for the past three days.

The farm is situated in the middle of the hill in a peaceful setting surrounded by lush green grasses, flowers, trees, and varieties of bamboo species. A lot of bees can be seen around flowers in the daytime while at night fireflies can be seen flying around the trees.

There is also a spring that originates right through the hill and flows along different sections of the farm. The spring water is well utilized for drinking purposes with the help of the filtration process as well as a small pool is made out of it for recreational use.

As we were walking around the farm, we came across a section where vegetables were grown locally for the farm. And to be particular, we came across brinjal(eggplant), it was bearing fruits but the leaves seemed to be eaten by some kind of pests.

At first, I hadn’t noticed the leaves until one of our friends raised the question;

“Why is the leaf looking like that, is it some defect?”

The answer we got really surprised us, it particularly surprised me to the extent that I felt I should write about it. (that’s how this blog was born)

The leaves of the eggplant were eaten by a pest, which is why the scratches and holes around the leaves were clearly visible.

This might sound particularly interesting but the only reason the action of pests was visible around the plant was that pesticides/ insecticides weren’t used in the process. Had the pesticides been used, the so-called defect caused by insects wouldn’t have been visible as the pests wouldn’t have existed in the first place. Any kind of pests, either good or bad would’ve been killed by the pesticides.

While I was there listening to the whole conversation, something had shifted in myself and in my thought pattern that day.

Ever since that day, every time I go to the market, I don’t try to look for the most perfect-looking fruits or vegetables, rather I try to look for the imperfect ones, the ones whose shape is not perfect, the ones whose leaves have the sign of being eaten by insects. The more imperfect it looks, the more likely that external measures(pesticides, insecticides, etc) haven’t been applied in the process.

While that encounter on the farm, the conversation I had heard had shifted the way I think about buying fruits and vegetables, deep down it also shifted other things within myself. That realization not only made me accept imperfect fruits and vegetables, but it also made me appreciate my own imperfections too.

You and I, We live in this world where only perfection is being celebrated, perfection is being cherished and perfection is being set the standards. Every day we are constantly told to be perfect. And there might come a day when thoughts might hit us hard to be perfect, to be the best, but may we always remember that we can also choose imperfection too. That acceptance of our imperfections is what gives us an edge to keep moving, to keep going.