I always felt that mangoes can be consumed in two ways- by cutting into slices or making mango shakes. Then I learnt the third way.
It had been a long summer this year, full of working weekends. On a Sunday evening, while I was in the office I received a WhatsApp message from my wife with just had the following image:
I immediately replied, “We are going.” Not realizing that the venue is a two-hour-long journey. It will be an exhaustive drive given the hot weather but the toothpaste had left the tube now.
We woke up early at 4 AM. And by 7 Am I along with my wife and kid were at the ‘Vintage Village’, organized by ‘Lucknow Farmers Market’ where we will be spending the next 5-6 hours. It would be scorching heat and these 5-6 hours were expected to be a challenge as there will be no AC. And with hundreds of other people around it was going to be worse. So I thought.
And like often, my thoughts were wrong.
Once we stepped inside the Vintage Village, every thought of scorching heat had transformed into lush green vicinity with Mango Trees all around. As we strolled around the Village, we were charmed and calmed by the shade of trees with mango aroma swooning in the air. After 30 mins, a lady came and said “Why don’t you come and enjoy some Mangoes?” and led us to the spot where mangoes were kept.
The place was brimming with varieties and fragrances of mangoes. The host introduced us to the names of the mangoes but after a point, even the host didn’t know the name of all of them. He just knew “This is sweet…this one is sweeter….this one is very sweet and that one is sweetest.” There were mangoes of all sizes. One covered my whole hand and there were as small as the upper part of my finger. I realised God loved Permutation and combinations a lot. There were all possible combinations of sizes and colors. There were green, yellow, yellowish green, and greenish-yellow mangoes.
I expected that these mangoes now shall be sliced and presented to us on plates to eat. But there was no knife to slice. All I saw was some people were sitting around on a charpoy and sucking the mangoes directly without slicing them. This seemed primitive and primordial to me. I was reluctant at first but since am a huge Mango fan and couldn’t wait for the mangoes. The first I picked was the most yellow one. I didn’t want to take a risk and thought the first one has to be good. But it wasn’t good. It was the best mango I had ever had. After that, there was no stopping. After eating around 5-6 mangoes at a stretch we laid ourselves on the charpoy. My hesitation was gone. I found this way of having mangoes more engaging and satisfying. There was a mango eating competition which I won. I cherished every moment. I even purchased a few mangoes of each variety and kept them in the car.
We went swimming and came back to have mangoes again. Then we went horse riding and then there was a mango treat again!! Then tree house camping, bullock cart ride, tractor ride and after every small thing there was big mango break.
But as every good thing comes to an end, this day too glided into the evening. It was time to leave. We were dragging ourselves reluctantly towards our car. But as we got inside and closed the door, there was a strong aroma of Mangoes that filled the space inside the car. It rejuvenated us instantly and we were having the same feeling back. Smiles adorned our faces as if we have discovered buoyancy. That two-hour journey back home was a pleasant one. We were tired but not exhausted anymore. After all, we three had gone to the Mango Festival and we four were coming back. We were joined by delicious Mangoes.
Our day was like mango itself. In the unbearable heat, the end was sweet. Just like mangoes…they spend time on trees on hot days and in the end, the taste is sweet.
Thanks ‘Lucknow Farmers Market’ for such a pleasant day!!!
~Sarabjeet Singh Dhingra~
Sarabjeet is an avid user of fountain pens. He loves driving, diving and dreaming. He can make most terrible jokes sound funny….and vice versa! Tallest among us in height, spirit and enthusiasm, he assures there is not single dull moment when we are around him. A child at heart, a seeker at soul and a believer at attaining goals, he can be found at sarabjeet.dhingra@gmail.com.
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