Reading about the 20th Mango festival, took me down the memory lane. I feel delighted to confess that I belong to a ‘Mango Crazy’ family. One of the reasons I wait for summers is that it brings my birthday. Another very significant reason is that summer time is loaded with juicy and luscious fruits. Water melons, musk melons, litchis, plums, apricots and THE most important the “Aam Khas” fruit MANGO.
My earliest memory depicting my love for mango dates back to the time when I was a little kid. My mom used to take off my frock and make me sit on the mosaic floor in my vest and knickers and hand over a complete mango. I used to squeeze it, eat it, rub it on my legs, face, obviously in my attempt to eat it. When the drill used to get over, my mom used to lift me and dip me in a bucket and wash off all traces of mango.
Many of you might be awed at what I am going to write next. In summers, each bite of my chapatti used to be accompanied by a bite of mango. And the trend is still on. My parents used to bribe me that if I eat one more chapatti, I can have one more full 'dashheri’ mango. When by July end, mangoes used to diminish in the markets I used to feel sad that till next summers my dinner won’t be the same again. I know it’s unusual, but I have come across other people also who have this strange fascination.
So as expected, ‘Mango Festival’ was an event we used to wait for. We brought our first maruti 800 car when I was in tenth. Prior to that it was the humble, “Hamara Bajaj”. With my younger brother, right on to the handle, then my father, followed by me squeezed in between my father in front and my mother at the back, we used to set off to Talkatora stadium. I used to devour the mangoes with my ‘chakshu’.
Generally there are as many as 500 varieties, which include mangoes from UP, HP, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab. You will find it hard to believe but it's true that Amrapali, Mallika, Fazia, Himsagar, Balia, Dhoon, Ruchika, Alphonso, Shamasi are all names of mango varieties. All girls names ahha!!!
The icing on the cake was definitely the ‘Mango Eating competition’. We used to love watching the participants. Mango on their faces, hands, clothes and just all over (used to remind me of my escapades). They obviously were a sight to be shot. Of course, we never participated!!! Consuming 3 kg mangoes in 1 min would lead to dire consequences. I am sure everyone here is intelligent enough to understand the same, so I would refrain from going into it...lol!!!
BTW, the news item was that the 20th Mango Festival that's organized by the Delhi Tourism Board is starting from today and will go on for 3 days. The venue has been shifted from Talkatora stadium to Pragati Maidan since the former is getting refurbished for the Commonwealth games. Not sure of the entry fees.(If I can correctly recall, earlier the entry used to be free). Other reasons to visit are that one can buy a mango tree and even get tips on growing mango trees.
Hope you enjoyed this ‘aam post’ and would be waiting to grab a mango soon! Feel free to add your ‘aam’ experiences. How do you prefer your mango!
I am sure my friends who were missing me might excuse me for being away after reading this post. I can't stay away from MS and you all for long na....kya karen, "aadat si ho gayi hai".
Keep smiling and hope you all have a great weekend.
Love
Payal
