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Mango - the most lovely fruit of Hindustan, sang Amir Khusro
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Saturday, 16 June, 2007, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Mango is a summer-time speciality. It is the national fruit of India. This pleasant, sweet, luscious fruit is the favourite of one and all and has won universal praise down the ages.
Mango derives its origin from the Tamil 'man-kay,' which turned 'manga' in Portuguese before becoming mango in English.
It is said that gods in their infinite wisdom weighed the terrible Indian summer against a heap of mangoes, and found the balance even. And hotter the summer, sweeter the mangoes.
India is known to be cultivating some 250 recognised and some 1000 miscellaneous varieties of mangoes. It is the largest producer of mangoes with 14-16 million tonnes.
Experts are of the view that the original home of the mango was the Malaysian peninsula, but the overwhelming view is that the mango is truly of Indian origin. Known as Amra in Sanskrit, mango figures in Shatpath Brahman, Ramayan, Mahabharat and even Amarkosh. It has also been described as the 'Kalpavriksh' or the wish-fulfilling tree. Poet Kalidas has extolled it in his Meghdoot.
The succulent mango is truly an Indian pride. It is at once exotic and colourful, the hues varying from parakoot green to lush golden, and to darker tints of tender green and pale yellow. Small wonder, therefore, that Amir Khusro has eulogised the mango thus:
My mango is the embellishment of the gardens, The most lovely fruit of Hindustan
Hamilton, the 18th century visitor to India, admires mango as "the wholesomest and the best tasted of any fruit in the world." In his travelogue, Bernier describes Indian mangoes as "excellent." He adds: "I do not know any sweetmeat more agreeable."
In his Storie de Mogor, Manucci says: "The mango is a little bit heating and laxative, and how much you may eat them, you still desire to eat more and they do you no harm."
Babar, the marauding Mughal who hated India's heat, land and the people alike, has understandably the only notable detractor of mangoes. He could not stand why mangoes were so highly praised. He says in his memoirs: "Many praise the mango so highly as to give it the preference to every kind of fruit, but it does not appear to me to justify their praises."
His own great-grandson Jehangir was so fond of mangoes that once he became very angry at his son Shahjahan for failing to send sweet south Indian mangoes during his Deccan campaign.
Aurangazeb employed mangoes as a diplomatic ploy. Soon after having proclaimed himself Emperor, he wanted to placate Shah Abbas, King of Persia, and sent a wily messenger Tarbiyat Khan with costly gifts, and made special arrangements to ensure that fresh mangoes were available at Isfahan when Tarbiyat Khan arrived there, so that he could present them to the Shah.
The latest to go crazy was US President George Bush during his India visit last year. After tasting the king of kings, Alphonso, he has lifted the 18-year-old ban on Indian mangoes in the US. Indian mangoes were officially launched at a special function at the Indian Consulate in New York last week. India will be holding a mango festival in the US later this month. Japan resumed buying Indian mangoes last year.
Indis exports mangoes to almost all countries barring Australia and New Zealand. Indian varieties like Alphonso, Kesar, Langra, Chausa, Mallika, Banganapalli are very popular in the Gulf and Europe. India exported 74,911 tonnes of mangoes last year. The government expects a 7% increase this year, that makes it 78,656 tonnes. However, an appreciating rupee could eat into the earnings from mango exports this year, to the extent of Rs 10-15 crore, from last year's earnings of Rs 129.19 crore ($28.13 million).
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