Blue mangoes and Tumba

Dear Reader,

When I first read David Davidar’s novel The House of Blue Mangoes over a decade back, I was intrigued by the blue mango groves on Solomon Dorai’s land in the fictional village of Chevathar. I assumed that like the village’s name, the blue mangoes with their super sweet taste, must also be fictional. 

This was until last week when I read my colleague Chandhini’s story from Kerala and realised that blue mangoes really exist! In fact, not just blue, Kerala is home to hundreds of uncommon mango varieties ranging from purple and black to dark red mangoes. 

There is an interesting story behind their discovery. After not finding much information on Kerala’s native mango varieties, businessman Sakhil Thayyil started a Facebook group in 2019. The group members began travelling throughout the state to unearth the native mangoes hidden in the backyards of old homes and orchards. 

Since then, they have discovered over 100 rare mango varieties and propagated them for biodiversity conservation. Do read this wonderful story. The vibrant and unimaginable shades of mangoes will make your day.

My colleague Anu spoke to Lohith Shetty last week. This smart farmer figured out the growing demand for exotic fruits in the Indian market back in 2006. He bought some saplings of rambutan and mangosteen from Kerala and planted them on his farm in Dakshin Kannada district. 

Today, each tree yields around 100 kg of fruits per season and mangosteen sells for up to Rs700 per kg for two months a year. Lohith also runs a flourishing nursery of exotic plants. His is a classic example of first-mover advantage.

From Odisha, my colleague Niroj has written about the tribal craft of Tumba where dried hard shells of gourd are used to create decorative and utilitarian pieces.  Artist Himanshu Shekhar Pandia has taken the traditional craft to buyers across India. He trains tribal as well as non-tribal people in crafting contemporary and eco-friendly products using ‘lauki’. These items now sell for up to Rs33,000 per piece. His work combines tribal empowerment with craft preservation, making it outstanding.  

My colleague Riya has put together a beautiful and interesting piece on five little-known canyons of India. Formed due to weathering and erosive activities of rivers for thousands of years, canyons have rivers at the bottom and boating in them can feel surreal. 

Our Sunday feature is on ten wild edible mushrooms foraged by tribal people across India with the onset of monsoons. Some of these wild mushrooms can be poisonous and it is only the tribal people, who know the difference between the edible and non-edible mushrooms. 

Happy Reading!

Warmly,

Rashmi