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Bachi Karkaria's Giving Gyan is a shooting-from-the-lip advice column to the lovelorn and otherwise torn, telling them to stop cribbing and start living -- all in her branded pithy, witty style. LESS ... MORE
This is the season when all aam admi (and biwi bachchey) party. Thank you, Mr Keriwal. Depending on where you grew up, you will swear that the mango of your childhood scores above the rest. The golden-orbed Alphonso may have been crowned king, but east, north and south will deflate it to hapooosss. For them, the himsagar, dusseri/chausa/langra and banganapalli respectively command greater respect.
Why, even in its western home states, alphonso’s suzerainty is challenged by neelam, payri and kesar. By the way, Maharashtra savours some political one-upmanship. Its Devgad/Ratnagiri hapoos is way superior to the Valsad hafoos of Modi-Shah’s Gujarat.
While few will agree that their mango by any other name tastes as sweet, all our custom-unstaled infinite varieties have one thing in common. Wallowing in amrus, (and the unpulped fruit) is akin to experiencing the navarasa as laid down in Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra. Ok, if you must be pernickety, the ninth, Shanta, was added by Nandikeshwara.
Shringara is the pan-Indian yearning for the mango. Hasya is the unbridled laughter that rings through the house as it arrives by crate, carton or affordable couple. Veera is the courage it takes to shell out the spiralling price, or even the stoic wait till it comes down.
Raudra is the anger which rises as you see your neighbour’s empty cartons pile up long before you can afford to buy. Conversely, Karuna is the (usually fake) compassion he expresses for the not-yet-haves among friends and family. Bibhatsa is the disgust the latter feel over the gluttonous way in which the show-off-haves attack their pricey prize.
Bhayanaka is the fear that prices may never fall enough, and you’ll have to scrounge for the end-of season squishy/shrivelled substandard fruit. Finally, Shanta is the satiated calm that washes over you as you suck and scrape the stone dry.
Navratra/Navratri is the twice-a-year time when Hindus must abstain from the navarasas. Conveniently, considerately, compassionately, the mango season falls between these two periods. Even the gods don’t expect you to resist the heavenliest of fruits.
Alec Smart said: “A Sadition day if that much-abused law stays.”
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Views expressed above are the author's own.
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