There is no other country that has a compulsive relationship with a fruit like India has with mangoes, said Sopan Joshi, journalist and author of the book Mangifera Indica: A Biography of the Mango at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on July 20. “No other country is as mindless of it as we are,” he added.
Joshi, whose book is an extensive reportage on the historical, cultural, and economic significance of the mango in India, told Frontline: “Most people are clueless about how deep our association with the mango goes. It’s not just with the fruit itself, but also with the flower, the mango groves, and all cultural norms and religious festivities associated with it.”
In a conversation with writer, filmmaker, and heritage conservationist Sohail Hashmi, Joshi spoke of how intimate the relationship between the fruit and our society is. “The mango’s centrality to our culture and economy comes from mango groves which were a central part of any village or city’s infrastructure,” he said.
The cultures of mango
There were also certain socio-economic distinctions in how mangoes were perceived. “There were two different cultures of mango: ordinary people saw groves, while the rich had their vatikas,” he said. The culture of the rich changed after the Mughal era when a new sensibility towards the fruit emerged. “This was called aavami fruit, or ordinary fruit, which is why it’s known as aam fruit,” Joshi added. He noted that almost every major war fought on this soil was near a mango grove, whether it was Panipat or Plassey. “But it’s not the mango’s fault. It’s just that you’re never really far from a mango grove.”
According to Sopan Joshi’s Mangifera Indica, India is home to as many as 1600 varieties of mangoes and this diversity is not just limited to the types of mangoes but also their flavours.
According to Joshi, older generations were not only fixated on the fruit but also intrigued by the flower. “The mango flower is a symbol of hope in a new year,” he said. As the Indian New Year begins in spring, most spring festivities earlier revolved around Kamadeva (god of love and passion), whose arrows are mango blossoms since mangoes also symbolise seduction and procreation. On the historical usage of the mango in art, he mentioned how the Indian yellow pigment, derived from the urine of a cow who was fed only mango leaves, was outlawed about 100 years ago.
According to the book, India is home to as many as 1600 varieties of mangoes and this diversity is not just limited to the types of mangoes but also their flavours, which vary significantly across the country. “The greatest diversity is in East India, followed by the South and the West, with North India having the least. South India generally has a diverse bouquet of flavours, not just sweet, whereas North India prefers sweeter mangoes,” said Joshi.
Sopan Joshi (right), journalist and author of Mangifera Indica, with writer, filmmaker, and heritage conservationist Sohail Hashmi (left) at the Press Club of India, New Delhi, on July 20. | Photo Credit: Vitasta Kaul
Shift in cultural significance
On how the cultural significance of mangoes has shifted over time, Joshi pointed out that economic changes, such as the conversion of agricultural land into mango orchards to avoid land ceilings, have led to a disconnect between people and the land. “The saddest part of the mango economy in India is that after independence when zamindari was getting removed, agricultural land was converted to orchards. Most people now don’t even step foot into the land.”
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Joshi was also critical of the indiscriminate use of pesticides that had rendered serious pests immune to them, besides highlighting the risks of importing raw fruits that introduced new pests, causing significant damage to mango crops across India. “The fruit is grown with utter indifference. That is why the quality of the fruit is constantly going down,” he said.
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