The second most controversial subject in India, after politics, is Mango. Every summer, there is the sweetness of mangoes which is ripe and golden, evoking the sun in the hay. It offers sweetness without resistance, considerable but yielding. It offers an elevating quality that no other fruit comes close to. It builds goodness and happiness. From someone who loves the fruit without any discrimination and ignorantly, this is a piece about the role that mangoes (any variety) have played in our lives.

Sucking the life out of mango is one of those vital pleasures that makes life feel worthwhile. The process is both complex and rewarding. The foreplay that loosens up the pulp in the core, the careful cut at the top that allows access without a juice flow over, and then the sustained act of sucking every bit of juice from the helpless peel, is the best feeling ever.

The taste of mangoes was not limited to the ripened ones only. Slices of green mangoes coated with masala are a particular favorite. Then there were the semi-picked mangoes, with the delicious mixture of brine and turmeric, that lay in the heat out to dry, that we were as children not allowed anywhere near, but as the smart kids, we always managed to steal a few.

Nature is seen at its most abundant and kind-hearted when it showers us with the gift that is fruit. Can you imagine the first time, a human tastes a mango? At a time when there was no artificial sugar, and the senses were unaware of the sweetness, how would that first taste of mango have been?