This Article is From Jun 19, 2010

Bangalore: Going ga ga over Mango

Bangalore:
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The season is all but over and the mango is almost on its way out; except at a theatre-space in Bangalore, which recently had a celebration of the country's best loved fruit.

Anyone who walked into Rangashankara festival had to just get a kilo of the fruit, put them into the `mangopool' and pick as many as one could eat.

The mango party painted a joyous picture as five-year-olds tried to reach for mango pieces tied up in strings. Searching for that one luscious fruit to bite into, some of them eventually marched upto the huge vessel (urli) that had lots of mangoes floating in it.

Young Rishikesh had to resort to the same method after he couldn't get his share of his favourite fruit. When asked as to how many mangoes he can have at one go, he delightfully answered, "Many".   

"Mango is such a social fruit, even at home, when a child is given one mango they say mine is tastier than yours, so there is a sense of sharing. The concept began many years ago when I was constructing Rangashankara, We just sat and ate mangoes," said Arundhati Nag, theaterperson.

At the festival, children had lots of mango stories too to fill their bellies. For others, the king of fruits brought out the child in them like it did for playwright and actor Girish Karnad.  .

"I love the `apus' (alphonso), the other variety you never get is the `amboda' , it's only a stone and a skin, and nothing else. Pulp is in between and you have to just suck it," he said.

As the fine art of how to enjoy and polish off an entire mango is passed on to the next generation, the mango festival sure will leave its visitors with lots of sweet memories.
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