Table of Contents
Bandar ki janait ahi adarkak swad. (71st BPSC Essay)
“The fool wonders at the unusual; the wise man wonders at the common.” — Confucius
A visitor once entered a village where an old craftsman was making a beautifully carved wooden box. The visitor looked at it and asked, “Why are you spending so much time on an ordinary piece of wood?” The craftsman smiled and replied, “To you, it is only wood. To someone who understands craftsmanship, every mark and curve has meaning.”
The incident captures the deeper spirit of the saying “Bandar ki janait ahi adarkak swad.” It conveys the idea that a person who lacks the knowledge, experience, or sensitivity to appreciate something cannot understand its true value. The saying uses humour to point towards a serious truth: value is not always obvious; it often requires understanding.
A person may possess something precious but fail to recognise its importance. Conversely, something that appears ordinary to one person may be extremely valuable to another because of knowledge, experience, or emotional connection.
The saying can therefore be understood at several levels—knowledge, education, culture, art, nature, relationships, and social values.
Imagine a child being shown an ancient manuscript. For the child, it may appear to be nothing more than an old piece of paper. To a historian, however, it may contain invaluable information about a civilisation. The object has not changed; what has changed is the capacity of the observer to recognise its significance.
This is why education plays such an important role in human development.
Education does not merely provide information. It develops the ability to observe, interpret, appreciate, and distinguish between superficial appearance and deeper value. A person who has never studied music may hear a classical composition and find it complicated or unfamiliar. A trained musician, however, may recognise the extraordinary skill, structure, emotion, and creativity within the same composition.
Similarly, a person who has never studied history may look at an old monument simply as a building. A historian may see centuries of political change, cultural interaction, technological achievement, and human creativity within it.
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” — Albert Einstein
This idea is closely connected with the proverb. Education expands the ability to recognise value.
The saying is particularly relevant in today’s information-rich world. People have access to enormous amounts of information, but access does not necessarily create understanding. A person may read a few articles about economics and believe that he understands the entire economy. Someone may watch a few videos about medicine and start giving medical advice. Another person may read a headline about history and believe that he understands a complex historical event.
Such situations demonstrate the difference between knowing something and understanding it.
True understanding requires context, experience, critical thinking, and often sustained study. Without these, information can remain superficial.
The proverb also teaches us not to judge something merely by its appearance.
A simple village pond may appear insignificant to a visitor, but for villagers it may be the source of irrigation, drinking water, livestock support, and community life. A tree may appear to be an ordinary part of the landscape, but to an environmentalist it represents biodiversity, carbon storage, soil protection, and ecological balance.
In the same way, a teacher’s work may appear simple because the final result—a successful student—is visible, while the years of patience, preparation, guidance, and emotional support behind that success remain invisible.
Thus, understanding reveals hidden value.
The saying also has a strong connection with Indian culture and heritage. India possesses a vast cultural inheritance consisting of languages, folk traditions, classical arts, architecture, literature, philosophy, and indigenous knowledge systems. Younger generations may sometimes regard traditional practices as outdated simply because they do not immediately understand their significance.
This does not mean that every traditional practice should be accepted without questioning. Rather, it means that traditions should be understood before they are rejected or accepted.
A society that loses the ability to appreciate its cultural heritage may gradually lose an important part of its identity.
At the same time, cultural appreciation should not become cultural superiority. Understanding one’s own tradition should encourage respect for other cultures as well. A person who genuinely understands art and culture learns that beauty can take many forms.
This principle is equally important in human relationships.
A person’s true worth cannot always be understood from wealth, appearance, profession, or social status. A quiet person may possess extraordinary wisdom. A seemingly ordinary worker may have sacrificed much of his life for his family. A parent, teacher, soldier, farmer, or sanitation worker may make contributions that are rarely celebrated but are essential to society.
If society judges people only by visible status, it fails to recognise these hidden forms of value.
The saying therefore carries an important message about empathy. To understand another person’s struggles, one must sometimes experience or at least seriously consider their circumstances.
This becomes particularly relevant when discussing poverty and inequality. A wealthy person may find it difficult to understand why a poor family cannot save money. Without understanding the family’s daily expenses, insecure employment, healthcare costs, and educational challenges, it is easy to judge poverty as a consequence of personal failure.
Understanding changes judgment into empathy.
The same principle applies to public policy. Policymakers who do not understand the realities of ordinary citizens may design policies that look excellent on paper but fail in practice. A successful policy requires understanding how people actually live, work, travel, earn, and access public services.
Therefore, effective governance requires not merely technical knowledge but also social understanding.
The proverb also has relevance to science and technology. Scientific discoveries may initially appear abstract or insignificant, but their long-term value can be enormous. A mathematical theory that seems useless today may become the foundation for future technology. Basic scientific research often produces benefits that cannot be predicted immediately.
This is why society must support curiosity-driven research even when its immediate commercial value is not obvious.
At the individual level, the proverb encourages us to develop curiosity rather than premature judgment.
When we encounter something unfamiliar, our first reaction should not necessarily be rejection. We should ask: What am I failing to understand? Why is this valuable to others? What context am I missing?
This attitude is particularly important in a diverse society like India, where people have different languages, religions, customs, occupations, and lifestyles. Lack of understanding can create prejudice, while curiosity can create dialogue.
However, the proverb should not be interpreted as saying that every unfamiliar thing is valuable. Understanding does not mean blindly accepting everything. Critical thinking remains essential. We should examine evidence and determine whether something deserves appreciation or criticism.
The ideal approach is therefore understand first, evaluate carefully, and then decide.
This principle is especially important for young people. In a rapidly changing world, they encounter new ideas, technologies, cultures, and social trends every day. They should neither accept everything blindly nor reject everything unfamiliar. Education should help them develop the ability to appreciate genuine value while questioning harmful practices.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.” — Albert Einstein
Questioning and appreciation are not opposites. In fact, deeper questioning often leads to deeper appreciation.
Ultimately, “Bandar ki janait ahi adarkak swad” is a humorous folk expression carrying a profound philosophical lesson. It tells us that the ability to appreciate something depends upon the depth of our understanding.
A book may be worthless to someone who cannot read it but priceless to a scholar. A painting may look like colours on a canvas to an untrained eye but represent years of artistic discipline to an artist. A traditional craft may appear ordinary to a casual observer but represent generations of knowledge to the artisan who created it.
The world is full of such hidden value.
The real challenge, therefore, is not merely to acquire more possessions or information, but to develop the wisdom to recognise their significance. Education gives us knowledge, experience gives us perspective, and empathy allows us to understand the value of things and people beyond their outward appearance.
The proverb ultimately teaches us to avoid shallow judgment. What we fail to appreciate may not necessarily lack value; perhaps we lack the understanding required to recognise it.
A mature individual therefore approaches the world with curiosity, humility, and an open mind. Such a person does not dismiss what he does not immediately understand. Instead, he seeks to learn, observe, and discover its deeper meaning.
In that sense, the saying is not merely about a monkey failing to appreciate ginger. It is a reminder to human beings that ignorance can make valuable things appear ordinary, while understanding can reveal the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary.