Settling the great India-Pakistan mango debate

[Manindra]

I am telling nothing but the truth when I tell you that Indian mangoes are better than Pakistani mangoes. It infuriates me when Pakistanis don't agree. That makes mangoes an India-Pakistan dispute just like Kashmir.

Like a good Indian, I don't think this needs a referendum. Of course our mangoes are better. How could anyone even think that isn't the case?

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Pakistan. I am a card-carrying member of the candle-light-at-Wagah-border club. I think India and Pakistan should make love not war. I am all for solving Kashmir, demilitarising Siachen, ending terrorism, increasing trade ties, visa on arrival and so on. Since I have zero interest in cricket, India-Pakistan matches fail to arouse any anti-Pakistan sentiment in me. Pakistan is a place where I have my roots and some very dear friends. Yet, there is this little thorn between us: their claim that their mangoes are better.

Also read: Pakistani mango growers slice in to India market

What annoys me further is that there are Pakistanis who claimed to have tasted Indian mangoes and still think Pakistani mangoes are better. The problem with such Pakistani mango lovers is that they are Pakistanis first and mango lovers second. Which is not to say I have tasted Pakistani mangoes. Why would I do that when I get to eat the world's best mangoes? India has over 1,200 varieties of mangoes, Pakistan only 400.

Fruit diplomacy


Pakistani mango nationalism is not limited to Pakistanis. The Pakistani government uses it too. Almost every year the Pakistani government sends a box of mangoes to the Indian prime minister and sometimes the president and top ministers too. Under the guise of being thoughtful, they are actually conducting sub-conventional warfare against our egos. It is practically a way of saying that Pakistani mangoes are better. Killing the enemy with sweetness! The Indian government's silence on this is most unacceptable.

Also read: Nawaz sends mangoes to appease bitter India ties: report

The most famous Pakistani mango is known as Anwar Ratol. Half of the Pakistani mango nationalism is based on the claim that Indians haven't tried the Anwar Ratol.

It is as if Partition was a conspiracy by the Clifton-Defence-Bahria elites to retain the privilege of the Anwar Ratol. What most Pakistanis don't know is that the Anwar Ratol has its roots in a village two hours from Delhi, in what is now the Baghoat district of western Uttar Pradesh. The village is called Ratol, and its first Ratol tree is just over a hundred years old. Many years before Partition, a mango grower from Ratol migrated to what is now the Pakistani part of Punjab and named a sprig he'd transplanted there after his father, Anwar.

So, the mango on whose basis Pakistanis claim their mango superiority, even that is from India. Doesn't that settle the India-Pakistan mango debate?

Also read: A case of exploding with mangoes

In 1981, Zia ul Haq sent Anwar Ratols to Indian President Sanjeeva Reddy and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A week later, the angry citizens of Ratol went to Indira Gandhi and presented her a box of the original Ratol mangoes. Seven years later, the case of mangoes that exploded with Zia were probably Anwar Ratols from Bahawalpur.

Having established in my head that Indian mangoes were thus better than Pakistani ones, I wondered why this was so important to me. How could I call myself post-nationalist and believe in mango nationalism?

The over-rated Alphonso


Discussing the issue of mangoes with several people gave me the answer. I realised that even within India, people fight over which mango is the best. There's a great Delhi-Bombay divide over the Alphonso. The expensive Alphonso, we north Indians feel, is over-rated. It is too sweet, too perfect.

Also read: The raw agent

My favourite mango is the Dasheri. I grew up in Lucknow and because the Dasheri orchards of Malihabad are right next door, the markets are flooded with Dasheri every summer. When I went to Ratol and tasted its signature mango, I felt it was like a better version of the Dasheri. But I censored the thought lest I betray my loyalty to the Malihabadi Dasheri. There lies the answer. Mangoes are such a big part of our childhood memory that the mangoes we grew up with define who we are. We are the mangoes we eat. Anyone claiming that another mango is superior is assaulting our very being. That is why, I realised, I took such strong objection to the Pakistani claim of their mangoes being better, or for that matter the Bombay arrogance about Alphonsos.

Yet, there's one point which we can all agree about: those South Asians who claim not to be fond of mangoes are to be pitied.

Settling the great India-Pakistan mango debate - Blogs - DAWN.COM

 

[Rau]

Alphonso is best...........Kuch doubt mat rakhana....

 

[Tipu7]

Mango Mango hota he
Chahea India ka ho ya Pakistan ka can't wait for mango shakes

 

[nik22]

Agree! Dasheri is best!

 

[Mike_Brando]

Agree! Dasheri is best!

Nah Fazli is the best,next comes Himsagar and then Gulab Khas

 

[MilSpec]

Nah Fazli is the best,next comes Himsagar and then Gulab Khas

What is that over-sized mango often seen in trains in Lagula and bordhoman?

I have never tried any pkitani mangoes, and would love to try some if available in US. The mangoes I miss are kesari from our own garden, Langda;s and Hapoos/Alphonso's. Although I can get some aphonso puree over here.

One thing is for sure, South American mangoes sold here in the US are a insult to mangoes. taste less like mangoes more like a pumpkin.

 

[RAMPAGE]

Agar Indians 'aam' hain (as suggested by the article), Tou phir Sindhri tumhara baap hai!

Sindhri:

Aur Anwar Ratol, Chaunsa tumharay uncle.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Can @Chinese-Dragon or any other Chinese member shed light on this.



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February 16, 2015

How Mango Mania Came to Symbolize the Cultural Revolution.

The mango is the national fruit of India and Pakistan and the national tree of Bangladesh, but it was unknown to China before 1968. Then Pakistan’s foreign minister arrived in China and presented Mao Zedong with a case of the greenish-red fruit with the sweet, pulpy orange meat and mangoes soon became symbolic of Mao’s love for the people.

As history is writ, Chairman Mao re-gifted the case of about 40 mangos to a group of workers occupying the campus of Tsinghua University. Astonished by the Chairman’s acknowledgement in the form of something so foreign, the fruit was interpreted as symbolic of Chairman Mao’s love for the workers. They, in turn, sent one mango to each of Beijing’s leading factories and ignited a cultural phenomenon.

Mao’s Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution, running now at China Institute, chronicles the year of “Mango fever” that held sway over China’s pop culture propaganda.

The mangos arrived at a tipping point in the evolution of the Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, when Mao Zedong called upon school and university students to create a new society by eradicating belonging to the past. As the young so often do, they accepted the task with enthusiasm and rapidly plunged the country into chaos. In 1968, Mao decided to bring the movement back under control of the Party. But he officially announced the the working class would be the chosen leaders. It was just about this time that the case of mangoes arrived at Tsinghua University.

Mao’s mangoes instantly became icons. At the Beijing factory, recorded Li Zhisui, Mao’s personal doctor, “the workers held a ceremony and then sealed the fruit in wax hoping to preserve it for posterity… The wax-covered fruit was placed on an altar and workers lined up to file past it, solemnly bowing as they walked by”. When the fruit began to rot, workers held another ceremony. They peeled and boiled the mango so that each worker could consume a spoonful of the water that held its essence. Meanwhile, at the the Number One Machine Tool Factory, the mango was put on a chartered plane and sent to its sister factory Shanghai. Thus a propaganda vehicle was launched.

Mangoes soon appeared everywhere – in illustrations, publications, paintings, paintings, posters, and badges. They decorated everyday items such as mirrors, quilts, and enamelware. Wax mangos were displayed in glass boxes, printed in red with Mao’s quotations. More than 80 examples of items of mango pop culture – most never before seen in the US – are on view along with a clip from the 1976 propaganda film, Song of the Mango (with subtitles). Mao’s Mango – A Propaganda Symbol of the Cultural Revolution – a film about the era and the phenomenon produced for the exhibition is also viewable.

Mao’s Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution is the first exhibition in the U.S. to document this unusual moment during one of the most tragic times in Chinese history,” notes Willow Weilan Hai, Director, China Institute Gallery. “These events cannot be forgotten and hopefully each review of them will ensure that history does not repeat itself.”

Although Mao Zedong was a propaganda genius, the mango ploy lasted only about a year. China is now the world’s second largest producer of Mangoes.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, Mao’s Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2013), edited by Alfreda Murck. It includes an Introduction by Alexandra von Przychowski, along with essays by Xiaowei Zheng, University of California, Santa Barbara, describing the events leading up to the gift of the mangoes; Wang Xiaoping on her personal recollections of the mangoes arriving at the Beijing Number One Machinery Factory; Daniel Lese, University of Freiburg, Germany, about the design of political spectacles and the National Day Parade of 1968, and other essays by leading scholars.

Mao’s Golden Mangeos and the Cultural Revolution runs through April 26, 2015. China Institute is located at 125 East 65th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues). Gallery hours are daily Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For details please visit China Institute

Today’s featured homepage image is an enamel dish, 1968, that says “With each mango, profound kindness”.

How Mango Mania Came to Symbolize the Cultural Revolution. : Asia Week Guide

China Institute in America - Asia Week Guide, “How Mango Mania Came to Symbolize the Cultural Revolution” - Asia Week Guide, “How Mango Mania Came to Symbolize the Cultural Revolution”

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Detail from poster 'Forging ahead courageously while following the great leader Chairman Mao!', 1969

Mangoes feature on buttons and posters of the period, as ornament or carried on dishes. Mango reliquaries with wax or plastic mangoes were mass produced. These can now be found for sale on antique markets and on websites - although most probably do not date from around 1968.

Mango reliquary, believed to date from around 1970, from the auction catalog 'Mao and the Arts of New China', Bloomsbury Auctions, London, 5 November 2009 . The inscription reads 'Respect and Wishes to Chairman Mao for a Long Life, Commemorate Great Leader Chairman Mao who gave this cherished gift - Mango - to Capital Workers Peasant Mao Tse-tung Thought Propaganda Team'.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Mango reliquary from the Landsberger collection.

The text is similar to the contemporary reliquary shown above, but states (between brackets) that this is a modern replica.

The mango.

Chairman Mao's Mangoes

 

[bongbang]

Nope Bangladeshi mangoes are the best. And we are producing more varieties by the scientists at regional Horticulture Research Station in Chapainawabganj.

Early variety
The varieties which can be harvested within mid May to mid June. E.g,Gopalbhog, Himsagor, Khirsapat, Brindabani and BARI Aam-1.

Mid-season varieties:
The varieties which can be harvested within mid- June to late-June, e g.Lengra, Misribhog, Krisanbhog, Kohitoor, Lakhanbhog, Daseri and BARI Aam 2-3.

Late varieties:
The varieties which can be harvested within July to mid-August , e.g. Fazli, Ashawina, Kuapahari, Mohanbhog, Chausa and BARI Aam 4.

Regular bearing varieties:
Neelum, Mollika(Neelum*Daseri)Amropali/BARI Ama-3.

 

[livingdead]

i wont know the nationality of mango unless they tell me. They can easily swap packaging.

 

[ganesh177]

Alphansoes of ratnagiri and devgad are the best mangoes in the world. PERIOD.