A Slice of Mango – Mango Speak

Recently news went around the people of India would have to just wait for a slice of mango as most of the mangoes would be exported. The price would be sky rocketing. Thank god, luck has suddenly changed for the Indians.

There was a time; I like to go back to my childhood summer days. First and foremost, how we loved the long summer holidays. It used to be hot, but houses had so many big trees growing in their garden. There were mango trees, jackfruit, jamun, jamrool, guavas, custard apple, neem, drumsticks and many more. If a child of the present day would be told about all the leisure and pleasure about playing in the huge gardens, they would simply laugh. Those days there were hardly any high rise buildings but mostly single homes with a double storey, long running verandahs, a courtyard and lots of space. But now the houses have shrunk along with the open space. The rooms used to be large with big windows and the fans were enough to beat the heat. Air conditioners were a dream and hardly found in few houses. Now there are small rooms and AC’s a must.

Let me say how we loved to suck the juice of the sweet mangoes. There were the local ones, small and juicy and so tasty. They used to sell mangoes in counts of 20’s and 100’s. The mangoes were put into a bucket of water and let to soak in the water for a couple of hours before being relished. There were so many varieties to choose from. Each kind has a taste and smell of its own.

The green mangoes were cut into pieces and then with lots of spices made into pickle to be enjoyed all through the year. There used to be aam pannas to keep the body cool, mango chutneys and mango jellies made at home. At home mangoes that were not so ripe would be placed in a basket layered with straw and then covered with another layer of straw. The heat helped to ripen the mangoes. What fun it was.

Mango was a part of life in summer and now we are interested for export and depriving the people of getting a taste of it. Mangoes are getting costly and pinch the pocket when we go to buy from the market. Still every Indian will have a share of this King of Fruits in summer with exports going for a Phuuusssss!!!!!!

As news spread that the export of mangoes to EU has been cancelled, Indians are again lucky to relish and enjoy mangoes which will no doubt get cheaper.

Thank god this time it will not be a slice of mango but lots of mangoes on the plate.