Parrot-Tasted Mango

Parrot-Tasted Mango

I was a great tree climber when I was young. Our backyard had a huge mango tree with trunk over a meter in diameter that shot straight up, branchless, for over 20 feet before it branched out to a large Mango Tree that spread over two to three backyards of neighboring homes on either side. This tree was hard to climb. However, there was another thinner Jack Fruit tree that grew tall and pushed through some of the branches of the mango tree and towered over the top on one side of the backyard. During peak mango season, the mango tree was awash with mangoes hanging from all parts of the tree and some of them are easy to reach in the branches abutting the Jack Fruit tree. On many warm quiet summer afternoons, when my mother and my aunt were asleep, there would be no one to supervise, and I would quietly climb up the Jack Fruit tree, pluck the fresh mangoes, climb down, and eat them with a side of salt and chili powder. I would have my best pick as there would be plentiful in every branch and depending on my appetite, I would select the size. Sometimes, I would share it with my friends from the neighborhood.

Mango season attracts parrots from near and far. I have seen swarms of them during late afternoons and evening, spread throughout the tree and feasting on the plump mangoes. Of course, this would damage the fruits and destroy the bounty, but among us kids, there was a general fascination about the mangoes nipped or partially eaten by the parrots. We used to think that parrots would know what mango to eat, and it would pick only the ones that taste best. Hence, we used to fight for mangoes that parrots already tasted and left. The kid who got the parrot-tasted mango would be a hero, and others would beg to get a piece of it.

I, when I am in a naughty mood, sometimes played a trick on my unsuspecting friends. When none of my friends was around, I would sneak to the backyard, climb up the Jack Fruit tree, and reach the canopy of the branch from the mango tree so I can access the mangoes without plucking them. I would gently pull the hanging mango near me so that it does not come off the stem, bring it near my mouth, and would eat it right there as it hung, take a few bites, and then leave it hanging on the tree. I would do this for a few choice mangoes in that bunch, and would come down, and go about my business. Later, when my gang of friends comes to play, I would innocently direct them towards that mango cluster near the top of the Jack Fruit tree and act excited as if we found a number of parrot-tasted mangoes. I would graciously offer to climb up the Jack Fruit tree, pluck the “Parrot-eaten” mango, give it to them, and I will watch them enjoy the mango, think about my devious plan to fool them as I contained myself from laughing out loud.

 

Picture suggestion

Boy with a naughty smile, surrounded by similar age boys, all wearing loose shirt, half trousers in our backyard. Mango tree in the backdrop (something like the picture of you and Gopi annna that dad shared) thrusting the “parrot eaten” mango to his surprised friends.

 

Some links

https://birdybirdybirdy.com/can-parrots-eat-mango/

https://indacampo.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/dscf1114.jpg

Blown Out Of Proportion

    I have never seen my face in profile when I was growing up. The frontal image that appears in a two-dimensional form in the mirror is not very ugly and when I smiled, it even appeared pleasing. Moreover, my mother and my sisters always admired my appearance and used to compare me with a north Indian actor. It boosted my self-esteem a lot, and I went about imagining how I appeared to others, comparing myself with good-looking actors from the film world. No one mentioned anything about my teeth. Though it is not a disaster, I have slightly projected front teeth causing my upper mouth to protrude. This fact evaded my attention and delivered a big blow to my self-esteem one fine day.

    My brothers closest friend, is one of the most creative minds that I ever saw in my entire life. He was pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the prestigious School of Architecture and Planning in Chennai, India. With his magical touch, coke cans became pen stands, trunks of coconut trees became bar stools, and paper plates became wonderful lampshades. On a warm summer night, shirtless and wearing a lungi (a traditional piece of cloth worn around the waist like a long skirt), he was once again in a creative mood. This time he wanted to draw carbon sketch of our profiles on the enormous wall from the neighboring house that was abutting our north side. It was a dark moonless night, well past eleven. My two elder brothers along with their best friends usually hang out on the open terrace, shirtless in the night, to escape from the radiating heat and enjoy the cool sea breeze that sets in late in the night. They brought a big ladder and set it on the wall. My brother switched on a small table lamp and first this friend went and put his face in front of it in a profile so that an enormous black shadow of his profile appeared on the wall. He adjusted the size so that we can fit four profiles on the wall. Once he determined the size was good, my eldest brother climbed the ladder and with a piece of charcoal, drew his friend's profile depicting his ever-present glasses and beard. It was a fine portrait. One by one, we all took turns and our profiles appeared like the crop circles on the wall. The shock of my life came once my profile was finished and I turned around to see it.

Only then, I realized my angled teeth! I felt so heartbroken that my face in profile does not match my frontal view in mirror and the imagination of what I had in my mind. I felt as if an axe fell through and tore my ego into two pieces. That day instilled a bit of humility in me. I realized that I might not be as attractive as the architect or my brothers or many of my friends. I understood where I stand in society in terms of my appearance and what not to imagine! 

Notes for Charan:

Age: Probably 10-12

Place: Open terrace, and imagine the north side, Sukumar's house, with window and the wall facing our terrace. It goes all the way up to their second floor terrace 

If you face the wall, you are facing north, and on your right is our tiled roofs for hall, koodam, etc. and left is the street side

Time: Night, dark, on the left, you can see the street tube light, but it would still be dark. Dark figures here and there of Chandranna, Gopi Anna and Suresh Anna (I removed his name from the article). A table lamp (that springy one with a semi-circle lamp shade, projecting on to this kid's face, and the shadow on the wall, and one of the adults tracing it. That is the scene but the story is about the shock. So set the scene of lamp, light falling on the faces of the adult players, and the kid looks shocked to see his profile on the opposite wall! 

Hope you got the idea. 

And Charan: If you have some good stories, just send me some bullet points, and I will weave it in. Like Appa sitting on the easy chair, send me some bullets, and I will weave a story.