The Mango chronicles; Tales of Janaki paati and childhood summers
Heat waves, heat boils, dehydration, heat exhaustion – these are the harsh realities of summer that can drain our energy and leave us longing for a heavy summer rain.
But you know what else can make the sweltering days even more challenging? Power cuts during the summer nights. Just when you think you might find some refreshing air from the ceiling fan, the lights go out, and you're left to endure the stifling heat.
But when it's your summer holidays, and you're with your cousins, especially in your grandma's home, we would make even power cuts fear and run the other way.
Our Paati's house was a traditional one, made with a tiled roof, a red oxide floor, and a spacious veranda. Oh, that veranda! It's where our cousin gang would literally live.
Day? Night? Are any of us missing? Our play area? Everything would be the veranda.
The veranda during the night time would already be reserved by our neighborhood aunties and Paaties. Because that's the only time they would sit and talk without anyone calling their name non-stop.
We, our cousin crew, got reminded of all these amazing memories when we were fighting for mangoes, fighting over the gulti of the mango – the seed of the mango. (The fight was over who gets the gulti, as it's the most delicious and juiciest part.)
Story of our memorable dinner, storytime and a petromax light!
During our vacation, and on a night of power cut, we got the chance to occupy the veranda as all our neighborhood aunties were busy fighting with mosquitoes indoors.
Our Paati, searching for us with a Petromax light, came outdoors to find us playing peek-a-boo in the dark. She stepped in with a big bowl of curd rice and her ever-special coriander chutney as a side.
She made us sit down on the veranda while the coconut trees that surrounded our home started giving us the music we needed to hear.
When she came with a big bowl of rice, it only meant two things: it's dinner time, and we should get our serving one by one by taking turns, and it is story time.
No matter how repetitive and boring the story would be, we could keep listening to her and laugh our stomachs out. With her delicious chutney and her soothing voice, we would forget about the heat, power cut, and almost everything but not the dessert.
The best part of the meal!
The dessert followed by the dinner would be mangoes. Her special hand picked mangoes. Every night there would be a different variety of mango.
She would quiz us about the variety, and those who got it right would receive the coveted gulti – the juicy seed that held the essence of the fruit's flavor.
Paati's eyes would twinkle with mischief as she would wait smiling ear to ear adoring all of us and also daring us to identify the mango's name.
On one enchanting evening, the air was thick with the heady aroma of the famed Alphonso, its rich, velvety flesh filling the room with nothing but perfection. As we savored the succulent slices, Paati shared with us stories of her childhood, when the mango season was eagerly awaited, and the entire village would come alive with the sweet scent of ripening fruit.
Another night, we found ourselves enraptured by the tangy-sweet dance of the Imam Pasand mangoes, their vibrant hues a stark contrast against the inky sky. Paati's tales transported us to the orchards of her youth, where she and her siblings would race to pluck the ripest specimens, their laughter echoing through the sun-drenched groves.
Mango Season and Our paati’s story season
Each mango variety held a special place in our hearts and memories, each of them having a story she had to share.
The organic Banganapalli, with its golden flesh and delicate floral notes, reminded us of lazy afternoons spent under the watchful gaze of ancient trees.
As the nights wore on, our bellies full of curd rice and mango nectar, our hearts swelled with gratitude for these cherished moments. For it was in these simple pleasures – the warmth of family, the comfort of tradition, and the sweetness of nature's bounty – that true joy resided.
If you, too, wish to savor the authentic flavors of summer and relive the nostalgic charm of mangoes plucked straight from the tree, Sweet Karam Coffee invites you to indulge in their organic mango offerings.
Carefully curated and sourced from the finest orchards, our natural, carbide free Alphonso, Imam Pasand, Banganapalli, and Sindhuram mangoes are available online, bringing the essence of a traditional Indian summer right to your doorstep.
Treat yourself and your loved ones to these juicy, natural delights and let the sweet memories of bygone summers come flooding back.
