Deceptive Appearances

"Dragon fruit," the name made me think about what could be so scary about a fruit that such a frightening name was given to it. It seems the name is due to its appearance! Whatever the reason may be, it is an interesting name. When I first ate it a few years ago, at a wedding reception, it was not abundantly available in India. The appearance, succulent and juicy nature of the fruit, and its color fascinated me. Being a lover of all types of fruits, I liked it very much.

Now it is easily available in the local market, although it is a bit highly priced. People grow them in their homes. The other day, I went to a close friend's house and as we were looking at the plants in the garden, I was totally surprised by what I saw for the first time. There were lengthy and thorny varieties of cactus plants that had long stems, too lengthy to stand on their own. They needed strong support to lean on. On the tip of every stem, there was a beautifully colored fruit, which was none other than the Dragon fruit. It was truly a revelation to me. It took me some time to digest that the exotic-looking Dragon fruit was the fruit of a cactus plant. If there were no fruit, nobody would care to look at the plant if they did not know it bore such beautiful fruit. It was a very ordinary-looking plant with thorns all over it.

Appearance could be deceptive. It is very common for us to be misguided by the appearances of people and places. Very ordinary-looking people may be extraordinary, unique, and talented. The lesson I learned was to not be carried away by the packaging. It could be covering something invaluable inside.