Or maybe my Guava months, or, better still years. And why restrict myself to guavas, I can very well say – my Mango days, my papaya days, custard apple, litchi, narangi and even jackfruit days.
Yes these are the trees I grew up with. Many of them, like the Mango and the Guava are still there, while few like the narangi and the litchi have been chopped off.
The mango tree still bears the mark of the great fall. There was a period in summer holidays when we were monkeys and even had our breakfast sitting on the mango tree. One typical morning, after the breakfast was finished perched on the tree, I asked Manika – “What if the branch breaks?” – next moment both of us were lying flat on the ground. The mango tree still has the mark where the branch used to be. It does not look that great a fall now. The branch that used to be touching the sky does not look that high anymore. But it was pretty exciting the day we fell. Lots of turmeric milk to prevent any clots and a little pampering through the day.
Guava tree was another friendly tree we had. A tree we shared with parrots, squirrels, mynahs and cousins. We learnt from the squirrels the habit of tasting the fruit before plucking it – and after a while there were many half eaten fruits hanging from the branches – few bore the parrots’ marks, while others were from squirrels and yet other from my sister and me.
It is an art to find a comfortable perch on the guava tree. You see its branches are not smooth; many stumps and twigs poke you – and only after a period of discovery you arrive at the perch most suited to you. There is never a dull moment up in the tree. If you stay still you can observe parrots and squirrels. And if you stay hidden and very quiet, you can even catch red handed the neighborhood boy stealing your guavas.
Did you know that few good guavas can fetch you coke and snacks. Yes, when you take the ripe Allahabadi Guavas to your friends, and to your Buas and Chachas, you get treated well – cold drinks, samosas and sweets – all are offered to you.
There are many ways of eating a guava. The uninitiated might just cut it into quarters and eat. But that suits only the ripe ones. In the peak season, all of us used to have great fun harvesting the fruits. We would pluck the fruits in various colours and sizes – some small, some big. Some were bright yellow while others were little pale. Some had red pigments, while others were green. The less ripe, bordering on raw would go to Amma to be processed into chutney, the ripe and yellow ones to be quartered and eaten. The bright yellow ones had to be handled differently – outer juicy core had to be nibbled and the seedy core could serve as a good ball to practice your bowling. You might ask me – “What about the guava with the red pigments? How should that be eaten?” Oh that was a special one – something to fight for and gobble before anyone else claimed it.
Ah! Those were the guava days – their sweet and sour smell is still strong.
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