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Mango moods
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Summer is synonymous with mangoes. This irresistible fruit not only makes summer tolerable, but also stirs in you a whole lot of memories.
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WHAT IS a morning without a hot, steaming, cup of strong filter coffee? Can you imagine a rasam sdevoid of the hing-and-jeera seasoning in ghee? What is a festival without the tender green mango leaves torana?
And what is a summer without mangoes? Is there a soul on this earth who is not tempted by this luscious, succulent fruit? Even the greatest of poets, Amir Khusro, was smitten by this golden fruit. In one of his Persian verses, he calls it "the choicest fruit of Hindustan", and declares: "For garden pride the mango is sought. 'Ere ripe, other fruits to cut we ban, but mango serves, ripe or not."
Urdu poet Ghalib was a mango lover too. When he was once asked to spell out his eating preferences, he is supposed to have remarked in his unmistakable style: "Aam meethe hon aur bahut se hon" (let there be sweet mangoes and in plenty).
Don't we know stories of kings and nobles who sent their friends gifts of choice mangoes? Many of them even had their own mango groves. Why, even our PM and the Pakistani President forget about Kashmir once a year and exchange baskets of the luscious, expensive Alphonso.
Mango is a summer fruit. And summer is also the season of colourful blossoms, the best of fruits, and not to forget, a season that has inspired many a romantic.
Some passionate lover was reminded of his beloved and sang: "The mango trees have flowered, these are times of togetherness, and my beloved is not very far..."
The more frigid Europeans apparently call it the "bathroom fruit", because they think it is messy and gives them "the runs". What can one expect out of a prissy race that cannot figure out the joy of eating a mango noisily, with the juice trickling down one's elbows.
In fact, the mango is supposed to have enzymes that enable digestion. Nevertheless, the Europeans are probably far less robust in constitution and cannot enjoy the fruit the way Asians do.
Incidentally, India is the biggest exporter of mangoes, accounting for almost 60 per cent of world's exports. It is, however, surprising that India has done very little to popularise the mango drink. Apparently, at many Indian diplomatic functions abroad, mango juice supplants liquor and is greatly appreciated.
When Indian Ambassador hosted a party in Algeria, the mango juice proved so popular that the Embassy ran out of supply, necessitating an apology to disappointed guests.
The origin of this fruit is much debated. While the renowned Kannada writer, B.G.L. Swamy, in his Phalashruti, talks of mango as a fruit from our own backyard, some people say that it was the Portuguese who took it round the world, including India. There is also a great deal of similarity in the Portugese name for mango, man-gay, and the Tamil mangai.
This is also perhaps one fruit, both in its ripe and non-ripe forms, that lends itself to a smorgasbord of preparations. Karnataka itself can boast of at least 50 dishes that can be made with this tantalising fruit — from the mouth-watering gojju, chitranna, the divine sikarane, the tangy ote saaru (made out of mango seed) to the exotic mango shrikhand, not to forget the unparalleled midi uppinakayi, the list is endless.
What is a life without mangoes? The raspuris, badamis, dasheris, malgovas, and sindhooras haunt me in my dreams.
Why can't it be summer all the time, if it means eating mangoes round the year?
DEEPA GANESH
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