ROMANCING THE MANGO

S monsoon clouds begin to hover over the capital, summer is slowly retreating.

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

Despite the scorch of the past few weeks, there's one thing Delhiites still await with childlike anticipation: mangoes. From Alphonso and Banginapalli (Safeda) to blushing Raspuri, mangoes arrive across India like edible postcards of summer. But beyond fragrance and flavour, mango season tugs at childhood memories of climbing trees and grandparents waiting with plates full of mango slices dipped in salt, chilli, and oil.

To celebrate this nostalgia, Delhi-based Kashkol Collective's Bazm-e-Aam at IIC, offered an evening of poetry, dastangoi, music, and a mango feast curated by chef and author Sadaf Hussain. "Every one has a childhood memory with mango," says Hussain.

For him, summers meant endless mangoes at his grandparents' home in Sasaram, Bihar. He recalls eating mango mixed with rice and dal - a combo that reminded him of Thailand's mango sticky rice, "but desi-style, though I didn't love it," he laughs.