It was a luscious Sunday at Ranga Shankara with the annual ‘Mango Party’ bringing people from different background and diverse age groups together.
They were all united by their love for mangoes. The party rekindled the spirit of sharing and the whole day was a sweet treat for kids and adults alike.
“In this event, each person brings in a kilo of mangoes and dips them in the pool of water. Anyone who comes in can bite into as many mangoes as they want,” said Arundathi Nag, founder and chairperson of Ranga Shankara.
“The entire rationale behind this event is that rather than eating mangoes alone at home, we want people to sit together and share mangoes with everybody,” she added.
A variety of mangoes from different parts of India made its entry and the visitors were spoilt due to the exotic choice, be it Bainganpalli, Mallika, Raspuri, Thothapuri or Alphonso. “Sometimes, people don’t bring in mangoes and some people bring a lot. So it sort of balances itself out,” she added.
Visitors were seen in green and yellow, the dress code for the day, and feasting on cut and sliced mangoes. There was also a considerable crowd of mango lovers at the cafe, where items made out of mangoes sold like hot cakes, such as mango rice, aam panna, mango lassi and mango kulfi.
“The idea started when Ranga Shankara was in construction, about 11 years ago. We shared mangoes with all the workers and then decided, spontaneously, that we would organise a mango party every year and share mangoes with the City,” she said.
Among the mango lovers were Girish Karnad and Ranjani, Carnatic singer from Chennai. “It is such a fun event and it is wonderful to see people coming in from different backgrounds and enjoying their Sunday,” said Ranjani, as she was looked for a Raspuri.
Adults savoured every moment through each bite and kids were running around licking mangoes. Francois, a visitor from Switzerland who now works in Bangalore, said that the whole idea was very interesting.
“It is nice to see such events in India and a treat to see so many varieties of mangoes. I would like to see more social events like these which bring a lot of people together.”
Sunanda, another visitor, said that she found the event very unique. “I shared a lot of mangoes with people and met my friends at this event,” she said.
The day also saw a story-telling event by children from the manganiyaar tribe, and a medley of popular old Hindi and Kannada songs. The event was indeed a way of celebrating summer and new friendships.
