Nurungukal…3…

      It was a different experience the other day when we concluded a work shop on the glory of mangoes. Usually any such event concludes abruptly with number of promises to carry on an indistinct plan, which never happens. But this time strangely there were no assurances, instead left deep in us the sweet and sour taste of about sixty five varieties of native mangoes and a lost past. Each one took ample time to etch an incident which lay deep in their memory. Whether it was about the taste of the juice of the fruit they sipped which had fallen from a Granny  tree at dawn. or about the one they downed surreptitiously from the neighbour’s tree or the extra taste they enjoyed when their mother served the yummy pieces when they returned from school.The list was long and elaborate.

    When my turn came, the first thing that came to my mind was a flight on a rope swing tied on the branch of a mango tree. It was not a solo flight. In company was  a girl of my age. She was heavy and I struggled hard to lift the flight. I gathered all my strength to swing back and forth but in vain and finally lost the grip and fell flat on the ground, leaving the girl on the swing. I left the scene ignominiously. Dum..dum…dum..pee..pee..pi.But my self respect did not allow me to reveal the incident, instead just mentioned the thrill of other events, which the present day children miss. Instead I remembered about the smacks my mother had given when we spoil our dress with the mango stain or when our neighbour complained about breaking his tiles while we tried to bring down the mangoes with stones.

         As I passed through the row of mangoes displayed,my childhood instinct once again forced me to steal one or two for  sharing them with my wife nostalgically.

      Here I would be immensely glad and thankful to place on record my appreciation to that little girl who had once again proven her sincerity and ability to methodically conduct such events. But for her imagination we would not have been able to make a sojourn with our past. Thank you Suma.