Mango festival concludes

The nine-odd youngsters who stood lined up at the podium of the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here today had a tough contest at hand. With their heart literally racing away to the music of Daler Mehndi and their mind overloaded with doubts, these teenagers kept wondering if they would be able to come out with a `smell- sational' performance after all.

For while their competitors had an eye for mangoes -- even if a blindfolded one -- children like Sachin Chaudhary and Sunil Kumar Meena couldn't really differentiate a mango from an apple, had it not been for the smell that separates them.

And if you thought that not being able to `see' that spread of satiating mangoes is a complete let-down, the mango smelling competition, held at the Talkatora Stadium this afternoon on the closing day of the 13th Mango Festival organised by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), would have changed that views.

For contesting here were nine visually impaired children against a blindfolded group of children and elders. Bringing all these boys and men under one roof was their fetish for mangoes. Although in the end it was the DTTDC deputy PRO who won the contest, the officer decided to withdraw from the price raze, passing on the trophy to the boy in the second spot, Sunil Kumar Meena.

A Class X student of the JPM Senior Secondary School, Sunil rightly identified 18 mangoes from the around 30 that were shown to him. ``I had always been fond of mangoes. Although I never really got the opportunity to eat many varieties, I like Dusseri the most,'' he said.

As for those who could afford to have a go at the mango festival with their eyes wide open, it was adventure of a different kind. As G.P.Singh, one of the participants at the mango eating contest, said: ``I had my fill. I like mangoes, but I have not found the quality here to be very good. In fact, last year the rush to the festival was much more,'' he said.

With pop singer Daler Mehndi's music blaring in the background, these contestants had a go at the mangoes. And for the few hundreds who watched on the grand spectacle with awe, this was a event that was not going to be repeated.

``The men were very fast, but the women were not able to eat many mangoes. Maybe they were too conscious about the neat and nice part,'' gushed a female spectator. While the men's segment was won by Dr. K.P.Rana, who gorged on nearly 1.55 kg of mangoes, his female counterpart had a fill of 1.25 kg.

For children, it was time to learn some lessons. ``I had no idea that there were so many varieties of mangoes. Before I came to watch the festival I had known only one or two names, but by the time I go back home, I would have probably learnt quite a few names,'' said Mohanpreet Singh, a school student.

By Lakshmi Balakrishnan

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Next     : Restaurants in green areas to go