Mango Republic

In this land of scorching and punishing summers (enhanced by global warming) people look upon me for solace. Not that I offer any cooling effect, but for my taste. Though we are grown in Thailand, Indonesia and Brazil my cousins there do not command the kind of yum factor which we desis enjoy. Sweet, tangy, succulent are some of the adjectives bandied about to describe the taste and we always occupy prime position on shop shelves.

The obsession with mango truly lives up to the credo of unity in diversity as it cuts across all class and regional barriers in the country. While my most famous version the Alphonso charms Maharashtra and Goa, it is the sweet Himshagor that has Kolkata residents salivating. For UP and the denizens of cow belt the fragrant Langda holds them in thrall, while the whole of South India goes ga ga over luscious Mallika and Neelam.

Even my unripe versions are in great demand for pickles and also eaten raw with salt, chilli powder and other masalas. In fact among most Indian women I am the prime object of desire during pregnancy cravings. For teenager boys growing up in small towns there is no greater thrill than surreptitiously plucking mangoes from a tree in neighbour's property.

However, now I am caught in an messy controversy which has more to do with craving for quick bucks than taste. The European Union banned the import of all mangoes from India, because last year pests were discovered in some consignments. It is a loss of face for the country, but as a positive fallout prices have fallen in India and some of the pricey varieties are within striking distance of aam janta's reach.

But sadly on the domestic front also I am under a cloud over the use of harmful chemicals like calcium carbide for early ripening. It makes me acquire a misleading ripe look with uniformly yellow skin, though discerning buyers can find that the aroma is missing. After cutting one may realise that I am lacking in juice compared with naturally ripened ones as the latter would have sucked more water from the tree. The ill effects include mouth ulcers, gastric problems, diarrhoea and skin rashes. In one incident it even caused death to hundreds of fish in a lake after rotten mangoes, that were artificially ripened, were dumped into it.

However the root cause of all this boils down to a malaise that plagues our agricultural sector across the board - lack of good post harvest management, including a proper storage system. Hence farmers and traders resort to early harvesting to avoid a glut, which leads to a decline in prices. It is the same story for all agricultural produces and the consumers bear the brunt.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat