Mango is not just a fruit, it is the name of an entire civilization

What is connected with our language and literature, food, traditions and festivals, that is called civilization. When it comes to mango, we can say that mango is not just the name of a fruit but it is the name of a whole civilization.

Mango is the national fruit of Pakistan. But the interesting thing is that there are two national fruits of Pakistan. Mango in summer and guava in winter. We can understand how difficult it must have been for experts to choose the national fruit, as both are local, tasty and delicious fruits. Mango is not only the national fruit of Pakistan but also the national fruit of India and the Philippines. While the mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh. The Guinness Book has recognized the ‘Carabao’ mango from the Philippines as the sweetest mango in the world.

Its varieties are enough to illustrate the love of mangoes in our region. Whether it is a bud or a seed, mango resides in the hearts of people. According to the World Food Organization, 70 percent of the world’s mangoes are produced in Asia. India claims to have more than 1500 varieties of mangoes. While we Pakistanis are also claimants of 225 types. According to Professor Ismail Khambar of Sindh Agriculture Institute, Tando Muhammad Khan, 150 varieties of mangoes are grown in Sindh alone. He further said that 40% of our mangoes are wasted due to improper storage methods.

Its season has not yet started whether you are at home or in university, drinking tea at office, waiting for bus at the bus stop, mango is always a topic of discussion in one way or the other. Someone talks about Sindhri, someone is crazy about Chunsa and someone about Anwar Ritul. Someone likes lame, someone demands Dussehra.

Mango connects the common culture and civilization of the subcontinent. The people of Indo-Pak get excited just before the mango harvest. Echoes of their slogans are seen on social media. Someone is saying that ‘our Chunsa is the best,’ so it is heard from somewhere that our lame and Alphonso have nothing to do with each other.

Whatever the variety of mango, it pleases everyone, from the common man to the elite. You should go by any mango stall and see for yourself. Skip the Khas Khas Mangoes if the distinctive aroma, taste and color of Tota Pari, Sifda, Lal Badshah and Neelam do not make your mouth water.

Let’s explore the cultural aspects of Amir Khusrau’s ‘Fakhr Gulshan’ i.e. Mango. Our lifestyles today have changed from the 60s and 70s. But even today ‘Aam Aam’ is the same and its traditions are still intact.

Manners and arrangements for eating mangoes

There are also some etiquettes for eating mangoes. We like to eat mangoes in their whole form. But there are some people whose intentions and stomach are filled with mango straws. While some people eat mangoes in a more civilized manner so as not to get their hands dirty. But eating mango with a fork is hard on the health of people like us. Because the right thing to do when you come to Bhai Sola is that your hands should not be dirty and sticky while eating mangoes and pies, so what’s the fun? You all must have understood that we love sucking mangoes. We believe that mangoes should be seed or pulp, but must be sweet, yellow, juicy and pulpy. And the smell should be such that as soon as you enter the house, you will know that there is ‘Dawat Mango’ in the house today.

Another right to eat mangoes is to eat them well chilled. Mangoes were eaten like this in our house till the time of my father. That is, they would take the mangoes out of the patty and soak them in a bucket. If it was early, they would add ice. After a couple of hours of soaking, the taste of the mangoes would be doubled. After the meal, everyone would gather in the courtyard, and sit around a bucket of mangoes, munching away. Shera is dripping somewhere. So hands are getting dirty somewhere.

The third important thing is that the mangoes should not be saturated. Rather, don’t run out of mangoes until your body is satisfied. But the problem with mangoes is that it fills the stomach but not the heart.

Mango related dishes

The yellow and juicy mango reaches the market by May, but in homes it starts with the mango borer. In January, there is a bore on the tree so that the pleasant sound of the cuckoo’s song starts to melt the ears. The arrival of small white mango flowers is taken as the first sign of spring. Boor, the mango blossoms, take the form of kari in a month and a half.

Naseem Hamza Sahiba says that in March, raw mangoes are available in the market. And as soon as it comes, not only sweet and sour curry chutney and jam are added to our table, but the idea of ​​Malaka Masoor dal is not possible without garlic chili and curry powder chutney. Not only this, mango juice or guramba is also made into dessert. It is sweet and sour in taste, which reduces the intensity of heat. ‘What about curry pickles, because the taste of various dals and lentil rice is incomplete without pickles.’

Naseem Sahiba also says that ‘We not only make different kinds of chutneys and pickles ourselves, but also share them as gifts among the neighbors and dear relatives.’

Mrs. Naqvi started smiling at the mention of mangoes. She opens up her memories and says that now the ways of eating mangoes have changed. But the golden memory of our childhood is the mango feast at Nana’s house. All the close relatives are gathered, it has rained and the feast menu is lentil filled paratha with mango juice, there is a lot of commotion, and all the close relatives are gathered. The mangoes are homegrown and penned, with more mangoes procured from the market. All elder sisters and cousins ​​are bringing warm dal filled parathas. After the elders, we children were entitled to this delicious food. We were given the mango pulp. Warm dal filled parathas were eaten with mango juice.

As well as mango shake and curry juice commonly called mango leaf, they make it at home. Curry pickle is made, but curry can also be kept after teaching it. Which is used for sourness. In this way, we use mango in one form or another throughout the year.’

Songs of rain and rain

The scorching heat of June and July, the torrential monsoon rains and the sweet, juicy and fragrant mangoes. These three elements are connected with each other in such a way that if mangoes are eaten without heat and rain, the mangoes seem tasteless. Earlier and even today, one used to wait for rains to eat mangoes. It is tried not to enjoy mangoes before the rains as there is a possibility of heat rash. The taste of mango with rain is something else.

There was a time when fruit trees were planted in houses. Many an afternoon would be spent in the shade of mango and jamun trees and swinging in these canopied swings. But now there are no more gardens and the era of planting trees in houses is also over. And gardens and gardens are already finished. Now in the rain we hum songs like ‘Ambia ki daaliya par jhola jhala ja’ and our mother hums songs like ‘Bagho mein pai jholle’ and ‘Aman mere bawa ko bhijjo re ke sawan aya’.

Mango Diplomacy

Echoes of mango diplomacy were heard in the media a few days ago when the Indian media made noise on social media that the gifts of mangoes to Pakistan i.e. ‘mango diplomacy’ had failed. According to these trends, due to the Corona epidemic, many countries refused to accept gifts of mangoes from Pakistan. Due to these social media trends, there was so much noise that Zahid Hafeez had to give a statement on behalf of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Pakistan had not sent gifts of mangoes to China and America, which was about to be returned.

If we talk about Mango Diplomacy, its origin in the world of politics dates back to 1968, when Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Sharifuddin Pirzada arrived in China to meet the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong. In this visit, he also took 40 boxes of mangoes with him as gifts. Interestingly, the Chinese people were not aware of the deliciousness of mangoes until the 1960s. And today China has overtaken many Asian countries in mango production. China is the largest producer of mangoes after India. Our mango diplomacy has been going on since the 60s in one form or another. Even today, Pakistan is expanding its market by sending gifts of mangoes to many of its neighboring and friendly countries.

Mango party and exchange of gifts

Exchange of gifts is part of our custom. We are basically traditional people. Be it Eid or any other festival. Or wedding ceremonies, gifts are taken and given with full chow. When it comes to mangoes as gifts, it was a tradition in the past that mangoes were ripened in the mango orchards and the ‘first fruit of the season’ was sent to the homes of daughters, sisters and loved ones.

Now that traditional style is no more. But it is still a tradition in families to buy the first fruit of the season from the market and send it to each other’s house. The rich and the poor exchange gifts of mangoes according to their means.

Mango parties are all the rage these days. As soon as the mango season arrives, you get invited to a mango party. Considering the importance of these mango parties, many political parties also consider mango parties, thereby increasing their social contacts.

The use of mango in language and idioms

Civilization is not complete without language and literature. How many idioms of Urdu literature include mango. Some are very common. Like ‘Mangoes at the price of mangoes,’ ‘For the purpose of eating mangoes or from the tree cane.’ But the study also revealed some different idioms and proverbs, such as ‘smell mango, eat mango, smell tamarind and eat tamarind.’ That is, you will fill as you will. Lust for mangoes – Ambe over mangoes. That is, do not lust after anything. “Mango mein bor ana” means to have good hope, if you get bored, you will also get fruit.

Our writers are fond of mangoes

Mirza Ghalib seems to be foremost in the love of mangoes. Mirza said that ‘mangoes are sweet and plentiful.’ The conversation between Ghalib and his friend has now become a proverb that Mirza’s friend was not fond of mangoes. They saw that the donkey did not bite the mango. He said to Ghalib, ‘Look, Mirza, the donkey does not eat mangoes. Ghalib said, ‘Yes, donkeys don’t eat mangoes!’

Not only this, Ghalib’s Persian Masnavi written in response to Mirza Fakhro’s gift of mangoes, ‘Dar Safat Anba’, is famous. In this Masnavi, Ghalib mango is called ‘a glass full of honey from heaven’, and in some places it is likened to ‘Aatish Gul’ as ‘sugar consistency’ and in some places to ‘string of silk’. Finally, Mirza’s health began to deteriorate, but his love for mangoes forced him to eat mangoes to his heart’s content. Shaikh writes in a letter to Mohsinuddin that he wants me to go to Marhara in the rains and eat mangoes with an open heart and a full stomach.

Mir Taqi Mir loved the limp mango, and in his poetry, mangoes are praised as ‘Anba Sheerin Ada’ and ‘Mayo Murad’, while the Bengali poet Tagore wrote two poems on the mango. One is titled ‘Amarmunjuri’ meaning mango buds or buds and the other ‘raw mango’.

Talking about the lame mango, the story of Iqbal and Akbar Alaabadi is no less interesting. Akbar Allahabadi sent a parcel of limp mangoes to Dr. Iqbal. Iqbal sent a receipt and thanks for the safe arrival of the mangoes. Akbar was surprised to see him reach Lahore safely from Allahabad. Akbar replied to Iqbal’s letter as follows.

The effect is that of your Messiah, Akbar
He limped from Allahabad to Lahore

Not only this, Iqbal was asked to abstain from sweets due to his physical condition. The blind sage finally allowed him to eat a mango. Maulana Majeed Salik says that this mango was a Bombay mango of one season.

Various forms of mangoes in the dress i.e. Keri or Taranjani

Clothing is also an important element in customs. The question may have come to mind, what has to do with mango or curry and clothes? So just open your wardrobe and take out your embroidered kurtas, shawls and cashmere pashminas. All over the place will be seen forming a kari shape like ‘Tranj’. Whether it is Lucknowi embroidery or Multani shade work on the sheets or tablecloths, you will find a Keri motif somewhere. Rather, this design is also seen in khadi and block print.

We first heard the word Turanj from our mother. She was asking us to put a bed sheet on the bed. Today I read the word of Taranj in Ghalib’s Masnavi. See:

Taranj was with Ziraik Khusrau
Where is the color yellow?

If you see a mango once
Throwing away gold Dast Afshar