Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Go, make a kill
|
Get your gunny sacks ready for the Lalbagh Mango Mela starting May 25, where you can buy 22 varieties of the naturally ripened king of fruits
|
COMPLETE BLISS Nothing smells and looks better than a ripe mango Photo: Parth Sanyal
Ah! To climb a tree, hang heroically from its branches, pluck the juiciest mango around and then to sink your teeth into it... Only monkeys can experience this messy thrill now. As for us urban genteel people, we eat daintily cut pieces of Carbon Carbide, fooling ourselves into thinking it is mango.
"Consumers deserve to get the best fruits farmers can grow, but they need to pay for it!" points out Horticulture Director G.K. Vasanth Kumar. "Why eat chemically ripened fruits? And why blame growers when they get the same price for unripe mangoes as for naturally ripened ones?"
So does one go to the nearest mango seller and say: "Solpa chemical-free mavinhannu kodappa"? Of course not. What you do is trot off to Lalbagh, head for the Mango Mela between May 25 and 31, and load your bags with a variety of mangoes brought in from growers themselves. Look out for bold Bangaloras (totapuri), sweet Malgoa, juicy Chelkurasa, beautiful Badamis, humble Raspuris, neat Neelams, colourful Sindooris, bright Suvernarekhas, snob-value Alphonso and more.
"Twenty-two varieties," says an officer at Lalbagh, proudly. C'mon, you're joking, name 10, I challenge him. "The Indian Horticulture Research people in Hessargatta will be able to tell you," he says safely.
But where will we get these varieties once the mela is over? I persist. The Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee yard in Yelahanka usually has the best range of mangoes. At the Lalbagh Mango Mela, Mallika, Amrapalli and other beauties too will make their graceful presence. "But the primary aim of the exhibition is not to show off the variety, but to get people to buy mangoes straight from the farmers," clarifies Dr. Vasanth Kumar. "Children especially, were fascinated by the shapes, colours and sizes of the various kinds of mangoes on display last year, but we would like people to try ethically treated, and naturally ripened mangoes at reasonable rates," adds the Director.
Through the Mango Mela, the Horticulture Department would like to tell the public that consumer is still king, but he'd better pay, if not a princely price, at least a decent amount for the king of all fruits.
The mela will also have stalls selling value added products such as mango jelly, jam, chutney, canned fruit, spices and mango leather. So, Bangaloreans, gorge, slurp, sink into the blissful world of mangoes, at the Lalbagh Mela... and try not to litter the botanical garden with plastic cups and tetra packs. Eat the fruit straight with its jacket!
M.K.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
