Mango People — How The King Of Fruits Unites And Divides India’s Aam Janata!
The proverbial King Of Fruits unites and divides Indians equally. Whether you call it aam, mangai, aamra, or mango, just uttering the word can evoke a plethora of sensations and emotions. Presented by three die-hard mango aficionados, this slice of Unboxed is a juicy celebration of a fruit that embodies the essence of Indianness for the Aam Janata – the Mango People.
Did you know that Indian Yellow, the pigment with which Vincent Van Gogh painted the luminous moon in his masterpiece Starry Night, was prepared from the dried urine of cows fed exclusively on mango leaves? Or that India, despite being the world’s largest producer of mangoes, exports less than 1% because Indians can never be done eating their produce? Or that we may be throwing away the most nutritious and medically valuable part of the mango — its seed?
The mango is undeniably the king of fruits, evoking passions that span literature, diplomacy, botany, agriculture, and economics. It is a fruit that unites and divides us equally, as we discover in this luscious episode of Unboxed, featuring a trio of mango aficionados who agree to disagree on their favourite variety.
Social science professor Sharmadip Basu swears proudly by West Bengal’s GI-tagged Himsagar. Amit Basole, an economist from Mumbai who is passionate about Urdu poetry and Indian literature, is torn between the feted Alphonso and the evergreen Langra. Biology professor Divya Uma has a soft spot for Karnataka’s rosy-red Raspuri.
Eavesdrop on their lively discussion about the mango’s cultural significance, ranging from ancient literature and religious stories to its nutritional benefits, and the startling reason why champing on a mango peel may give you an itchy mouth-rash. Discover why the mango’s political economy unfailingly makes headlines, and learn how this delicious summer fruit remains on our tables — and in our memories — year-round through various condiments and products.
Whether you call it aam, mangai, aamra, or mango, just uttering the word can evoke a plethora of sensations and emotions. Seasoned with the voices of enthusiastic mango lovers from a bustling mango mandi in Bengaluru, this slice of Unboxed is a juicy celebration of a fruit that embodies the essence of India for India’s Aam Janata – the Mango People.
Credits
Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi, and Velu Shankar
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to Anand, Aman, Azhar, Babu, Bhaskar, Deeksha, Deepali Karelia and Mamta Karelia, Dev Anand Paswan, Ishita, Kodandarama Reddy, Madhavarao Gideon and Lakshmi Gideon, Meenakshi, Navyashree, Prabhakar, Raghunathan, Shanthala, Srinivasan and Parvathi, Suresh, Swati, Vijayalakshmi, and others who kindly consented to be interviewed for this episode.
Resources
Articles
- Mango — The National Fruit of India; The Heritage Lab
- The story of the Imam Pasand mangoes of Srirangam; Nahla Nainar, The Hindu, May 25, 2019
- Kejriwal vs mango: Can people with diabetes have this fruit? | The Indian Express, April 19, 2024
- The Alphonso mango is now completely traceable; Mohammad Abdul Halim; Down To Earth magazine; May 11, 2021
- Colour Story: Indian Yellow; Winsor and Newton website
- The making of ‘avakai’; The Hindu, May 18, 2015
- Consider the Mango; Goya Journal, April 17, 2017
- Mango: King in India, no kingdom abroad; Mint, June 25, 2024
- Mango’s Lore — Season’s over but fruit thrives in folk song; The Times Of India; June 21, 2015
- The fruit that sent Mirza Ghalib into raptures; Ali Mir; Scroll.in; May 18, 2015
- Little bite of India-Pak history: Zia, Indira and mangoes; Deccan Herald; July 9, 2017
- The Indian mango needs our attention now; Anoothi Vishal; The Hindu, April 10, 2020
- Why has the West failed to hear India’s riveting mango story? | India Narrative; July 23, 2023
- Karaikal Ammaiyar (1943); The Hindu; December 21, 2013
- Power of mythology on Karaikal streets; P V Srividya; The Hindu, July 14, 2011
- Mangoes: The fruit that holds my fragile relation with my father together; Kavya Murthy; Scroll.in; May 14, 2016
- 10 Health Benefits of Mango; Healthline; February 1, 2023
- Physical properties and nutritional composition of mango seed powder for development of value-added products; The Pharma Journal 2023
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Also in ‘Unboxed’:
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The Harmonium In India | Part 1 — Is It Really Indian?
Once scorned by purists as ‘harm-omnium’ and criticized by nationalists as an assault on the Indian musical ear, the harmonium has firmly entrenched itself in India’s musical landscape. Sharmadip Basu presents the first episode of an engaging two-part story of the harmonium’s journey in India. Listen to Unboxed, our series on the history and culture of quintessentially Indian objects and ideas.
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The Harmonium In India | Part 2 — Equally Loved And Hated
Unboxing the second part of the story, Sharmadip Basu explains why some Indians hated the harmonium while many others loved it, why some banned it, and others patronised it. Listen to the second episode of our series, Unboxed.
