The reign of the king of fruits

As one nears a certain corner of Lalbagh, a deliciously heady smell strikes you. Reminiscent of summers and drowsy afternoons, the fragrance leads you to the starting of the ‘Mango and Jackfruit Mela’ which is a month long exhibition and sales mela of mango and jackfruit varieties.

These are carbide-free and naturally ripened and are directly sold by the
growers at a reasonable price. No wonder then, that the mela has attracted
visitors from all parts of the city within the first few days itself.

Weighed down by 2 heavy bags filled with mangoes, Vaishnav says “this fair is great; they have many varieties of the fruit. We tasted some samples and these were really delicious. We are not very familiar with the local markets here and anyway, the mangoes they sell are not of very good quality.” His father, Vinesh, says “the ones here are really sweet and very reasonably priced as well.

As you can see from our bags, we have brought quite a lot.”
A little further away from them, Sunil Reddy, a young farmer, sits comfortably, talking on his phone. He is carrying forward his family business, a legacy which has been around for 15 years now.

“We have only 2 varieties of mangoes in our shop — Mallika and Alphonso. They are brought from our farm in my native place, near Chintamani.” His family have been regulars at the mela ever since it’s inception. And they have not been disappointed. “Sales have been pretty good though they pick up mostly during the weekends. Weekdays are mostly a bit dull.”

“I have quite a few varieties in my shop. These are sold at Rs 100 for 4 kg except for Alphonso and Badami varieties, which are priced at Rs 100 for 3 kg,” says Siddharaj, standing behind a counter piled high with luscious yellow mangoes. Hailing from Magadi, Ramanagar district, Siddharaj and his friend Narasimha talk about the influence of rain and the hand of fate when asked about daily sales. “If our stars are lucky, we earn up to Rs 10,000-20,000 per day. On bad days, this can fall to as low as Rs 500.”

A sudden noise causes all the shopkeepers to look up. A school bus has just unloaded its passengers and little children, dressed in brown are sprinting up the path, curious yet delighted. It is an outing for these students of Kensri School and a welcome break for their teachers as well.

“We had come here for a field trip originally as the children have just started learning about herbs, shrubs, creepers etc. But when we heard that there was a farmer’s market going on, we wanted them to see that too,” says Reshma, a teacher. “It is a nice experience for all of us and initiatives like these should be encouraged.”

Hosted by the Department of Horticulture and the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Limited, the mela will go on till June 29.