Romancing the Mango

To say Indians are obsessed with mangoes is putting is gently. The summer fruit has found its way into cuisine, poetry, politics, poetry, folklore, and international trade relations. Saachi D’Souza maps the deep footprint of the country’s most beloved fruit.

A day after unseasonal rains clogged the streets of Panaji, Goa, in March I made my way to the market hoping to get some mangoes for the family. It didn’t require much search — it usually doesn’t — since the first fruit vendor kept his display loud and proud. I chose three common favourites — Mankurad, hapoos (or Alphonso) and the classic, raw mango kacchi kairi.

The vendor made a face when I asked about this year’s stock. “It hasn’t been a good year for mangoes,” he tells me. It was also exceptionally early for his robust display of fruit, nevertheless, customers were lined up.

The mango season for India began with some politicisation. After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, Arvind Kejriwal, was imprisoned over corruption charges, news came about that the severely diabetic leader was ‘secretly’ increasing his sugar levels with mangoes and sweets from his home. (It was later reported that he was denied insulin). The result was a widespread, national debate on the sugar content in mangoes, how many were consumed, and why, at all, mangoes? News channels, with the help of ‘experts’ from all fields, extensively dissected Kejriwal's mango consumption. No fruit has received better pre-season marketing.

An Obsession Without Borders

The mango is hardly a perplexing fruit.

Almost every Indian will trace a variety of mango to a childhood memory, and nearly every story involves a parental indoctrination into the fantastical world of a fruit beloved in ways that cannot be quantified.

You smell it, swirl it around your hand, inspect its colouring, and take the gamble. The desires built around the fruit far exceed one's imagination. Most descriptive of the mango is its far-reaching quality; it satisfies almost every taste, every cultural flavour, and every soulful craving. Of course, every self-respecting Indian will identify as a mango expert; able to discern quality simply from colour and aroma.

It is remarkable how one fruit has travelled across time, borders and taste buds, from mentions in the Mahabharata, to Jain and Buddhist literature; the Mughal expansion of mango trees, to, well, Ariana Grande. In the early summer of 2019, the pop star pinned a poem about her favourite fruit on X (formerly Twitter). The tweet read, 

"He Visits My Town Once A Year,
He visits my town once a year.
He fills my mouth with kisses and nectar. I spend all my money on him.
Who, girl, your man? No, a mango."

The verse is from a collection titled In the Bazaar of Love by Amir Khusrau, one of the greatest poets of Medieval India.