A NATURAL MANGO TREE

I remember the wild mango tree, Spondias pinata that stood in one corner of our St. Antony’s private chapel property. In Malayalam language it is called ‘Nattumavu’. One variety worth special mention has a very quick growth. It is enormous in size and can live for hundreds of years. It has a long trunk which branches out like a canopy and it provides ample shade for people in the locality especially during the sweltering summer. The children used to play in various local games beneath the tree and got immense pleasure from doing so. Its first flowers bloom during the months of December and January. Its dark cream flowers have a peculiar scent. ‘Naricheers’, the small bats apart from other insects like honey bee, butterflies and moths come to get the honey in it and thus the flowers get pollinated. The mangoes taste bitter and unpleasant. The cluster of mangoes is small and hangs on long stalks at the end of the branches. As the mangoes grow bigger both the children and the elderly people do not spare them. They pelt stones at them to bring them down. At times, they can even be very rough bringing down even the branch with a few bunches of mangoes. I observed the expressions on the people’s faces when they were trying to strike at the big bunch. As the mangoes fall down and go helter-skelter, there used o be a stiff competition among the children to gather the largest number to take home to their mothers. These bitter mangoes are then ground with green chilies and coconut gratings to make excellent ‘Chammanthi’, a relish, for their lunch. When ‘Appachan’ was around he would get into a real fury and chase them away. This special variety was plucked before it was fully ripe to make the popular ’Uppumangoes’. The clean and wiped mangoes were put into a big ‘Bharani’, earthenware pots, alternated with dry salt. After a few months, due to osmosis, the water in the mangoes comes out absorbing the salt into it. This is a natural way of preserving mangoes. These ‘Uppumangoes’ are a good combination with rice gruel. It is a very tasty common man’s meal. The trunk of the tree has a short life span; it lasts longer under salt water. The people in the locality still crave for that excellent ‘Uppumangoes’. We had a lot of other mango trees, Mangifera indica that produces excellent fruits like Alphonso, Neelam, Gudad and Priyor.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com