dear fr nasciment, how lovely your description is of the mango tree in the rear compound of st andrew's church. the serene way you weave the necklace of seasons draws us to the awareness of the transience of life. after listening to the exquisite lament of david for the death of saul and jonathan (2 Sam 1) for the reading for the 6.30 a.m. Mass just now, the freshness of the mango tree is a most welcome reprieve.
so many of my poems speak of mangoes in goa - the luscious mancurada and totapuri and manila - which as a family we all used to sit at table and devour. i can't wait for you to turn the pages of my book of my poems 'last bus to vasco: poems from goa'. ghalib the poet par excellence in 19th century delhi loved mangoes too. delhi gets its mangoes from the famous mango groves of malihabad, near lucknow. these pearly groves are owned by the nawabs and it is said patrolled by private guards with shoot at sight orders for poachers. just a suggestion fr. in the subject could you please indicate what the topic is? like : IN AND AROUND VASCO-24 MANGO TREE. this would be very useful for archiving. looking foward to seeing you. brian, delhi. >20-01-2006. > >IN AND AROUND ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH--30. > >We have in our Chirch rear compound just one mango tree. Its fruit is good to make >'lonchem' and pickle. >This hardy tree is evergreen. It grew here fairly fast and not so high. But in its wild >state mango trees can grow to enormous size >. It has a huge crown of branches which act as a tent and our hindu neighbours sit under >it to meet and chat. The bark is dark and thick, like cork, and peels off in patches. > >The leathery leaves are lance-shaped, smooth and are grouped at the end of the branches. >When they are crushed they give off a strong smell of sap. > >The main flowering season at Vasco is from January onwards. The pyramids of tiny, pale, >four or five-petalled flowers grow together on a branching stalk and have a strong, >pleasant perfume that attracts insects and bats. Only a few of the many flowers are >perfect and capable of producing fruit. There are many varieties of mangoes, and though >most bear fruit by April-May there are others that bear fruit in June and July in our >Port Town. However, not all the fruits are good to eat. In fact, some wild mangoes taste >very bitter and unpleasant. Ours is relatively tasty. In a few months time our Vasco >market will be full with variety of mangoes coming from other parts of Goa and even >outside Goa. In past years price of mangoes had gone very high. > >The wood of a mango tree is used for making furniture, boats and dugouts but is soft and >lasts for a very short time( it has longer life under water). The fruit contains Vitamin >C. >In hindu houses mango leaves are used to decorate houses on festive occasions. >This mango tree is one of the fruit bearing tree seen in our orchard. Other fruit >bearing trees , I have tried to describe in my earlier postings... > >Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas >
