Three hours after his dad’s flight from India had landed, the senior Savani finally materialized, his fingers smelling of, well, me. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials had barred him from carrying his haul of mangoes into this country, and rather than tossing them into the trash as instructed, he ate several pounds of them right there in customs.
The younger Savani, whose father and grandfather were mango growers in Gujarat, India, wasn’t surprised at his dad’s refusal to let those mangoes go to waste. He was smuggling in the family’s Alphonsos—the most prized of 500-plus varieties of me—precisely because they were not allowed in the United States. Alphonsos are so much sweeter, juicier, and more layered and floral in flavor than those you can find in supermarkets here. Indeed, the family has spent the two decades since trying to bring it and other outrageously delicious Indian mangoes into your homes.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
THE BIKER WITH A BIG HEART
Her son’s organ donation saved his life. So he rode 1,426 miles to meet her.
Starting a New Chapter
Some people don’t find their true direction in life until they are halfway through it
Off the Beaten Path
When a hiker falls 75 feet from a mountain cliff, a young stranger goes to extremes to save her
Putting a Ring Back on It
IT WAS JULY 2014. We were building a smaller house and getting ready to move when my husband became very ill. He had to spend nine weeks in assisted living, leaving me to do everything in our new home. By nighttime, I felt as if I was moving in slow motion.
I Am Mangoes … A Sweet Treat at Its Peak
One summer day in the early 2000s, Pennsylvania dentist Bhaskar Savani sat outside the arrivals gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport waiting for his father to emerge.
The Art of The “Good” Meltdown
Under stress from every front, we’re having more meltdowns. Here’s how to lose it the right way.
National Teacher Of The Year
Tabatha Rosproy, age 33, Winfield, Kansas
¡Fantástico! Top Folk Remedies from Around the World
We asked Reader’s Digest editors at our international editions to share their popular home health treatments. Here are the ones that check out with scientific research.
A Grizzly Encounter
On a trail near a mountain named for his grandfather, a lone hiker crosses paths with a bear three times his size—and with one enormous appetite
Don't waste your money on these 23 things
Avoiding unforced spending errors will let you save for the stuff you really want
