The real reason to move to India
by neo
Image via Wikipedia
Two words – mangoes. Actually that’s one word. But who’s counting ? Neo just finished his first Alphonso mango of the season.
Quick question – Does a mango need to be disfigured, mixed with oil and asafoetida and humiliated into being part of a mango thokku ? Does a mango need a thokku ? If God wanted us to eat mango thokku, he would have made mango thokku trees, wouldn’t he ?
Yes, Neo might be an atheist, but he is religious about mangoes. And with all due respects to Aunt Padma, this time she has gone too far. So now Neo is encouraging all true mango believers to eat as many mangoes as possible this season, to prevent the thokku-worshippers from getting any.
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Please remove comments “due respects to Aunt Padma,”.
You can comment about the mangoes or whatever…No need to link to this site. This is unwarrented…
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As Homer Simpson would say:
mmm … Mangoes!
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:(
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@litterateuse
Aww now I’m feeling bad too. Hey, I miss Taco Bell, and people asking me “white or wheat”! Does that help ?
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Ahhh! Mangos.. memories of sweet sticky smells and delicious succulent flavors.. miss them much.
Hey N.. how about I send you Taco Bell Junk and a loaf of our White and multi grain.. You send me a basket of the best of the best – fair trade eh?
You lucky b****.. enjoy the fruit!
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oh, here I beg to differ! I just LOVE all the mango pickles that my MIL prepares! And, since I get to eat them all year round, its a win-win situation!
Hey Neo, could you write a post on the medical situation in India… doctors, hospitals (super-specialty or not) and stuff like that? not sure if you haven’t already done so (?)
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@Roshni
I hear you. I’m a pickle-lover myself.
But isn’t using mangoes to make pickle sort of like melting ice-cream to get milk for your coffee ?
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//Does that help ?//
Didn’t realize I was schadenfreudig – but it does, thank you! :D
What are you guys cribbing about? Leave the Alphonso to be savored by itself; there are plenty of crappy varieties for the pickles, and thokkus and whatever else there is, and I doubt anyone will miss them.
Ever notice, aam is in fact extremely khaas?
g
PS: “whydowe?”
(If you answer that correctly in one word, you can have an extra mango :P)
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@litterateuse
It actually took me embarrassingly long to understand the “aam” and “khaas” thing. I got it much later while I was working out today.
And I’m totally stumped with the “whydowe” thing, and I really need my mango fix for the night. Can you please drop a hint ?
-neo
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“Whydowe?” – White.
Alternatively, “whydowe?” – wheat.
Go have mango. With plain Walls vanilla ice-cream. But that’s only after your soul is trupt with just mango. Damn!
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@litterateuse
LOL. In honor of “whydowe”, I’ve started asking my son “whydowe” every time we make or order a sandwich.
I don’t want him to lose out on what’s quite possibly more American than Apple Pie.
-neo
PS: There’s a bit of panic mango buying going on. Rumor has it that the mango crop was bad this year, so quantities are limited. There were actually dozens of people waiting in line for the Alphonso mangoes at the local store.
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Our friendly neighborhood Indian Grocery store in Belmont is *not* carrying any Indian Mangoes this year.. apparently, last year at $40 a case buyer response was tepid.
That and the poor crop in the old country…
Hey Neo, are you sending me a case of delicious plump Alphonso’s?
My offer to reciprocate with a case of the finest of taco bell still stands :-))
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Wonderful blog. The two best things I liked about your blog were the following notes:
“Does a mango need a thokku? If God wanted us to eat mango thokku, he would have made mango thokku trees, wouldn’t he?”
AND:
“It is sort of obvious in hindsight – happy people generally stay that way and recreate their state of happiness around them no matter where they stay.”
How long back did you move back to Swades? And what was the turning point that led to the decision?
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@Aniket
I moved back in early 2008 – so its been a little more than a year. There was no turning point as such. My wife and I always wanted to live in India to see how it feels, and after we got our US citizenship, and good job offers in India we decided to take the plunge and try it out. Our critics say we took the decision “too lightly”. We retort that “when you can’t decide, it’s better to decide quickly”. :-)
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I have been preparing my list of reasons to move to India, and like you, mangoes figure prominently in mine as well. I have had meals consisting of just Mangoes!
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@amreekandesi
Spoken like a true connoisseur my friend. You will be on my mind as I chomp into the next mango.
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“So now Neo is encouraging all true mango believers to eat as many mangoes as possible this season, to prevent the thokku-worshippers from getting any”
The thokku-worshippers will win this one. AFAIK, thokku is made from the unripe tangy mango, and not from the ripe sweet one. So, all mango lovers will get to eat only those mangoes that were left to ripen by the thokku lovers…
Thank your God that thokku-lovers, like atheists, don’t congregate to finish off all mangoes before they ripen :P
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@SRK
So you’re saying that mango-worshippers need to worship the thokku-worshippers ? :-)
-neo
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Actually, moving to India for mangoes is not a good idea since the best quality alphonsoes (for that matter, roses, basmati rice etc. etc.) are always exported. Have you seen how they use “Export-quality” in most advertisements here?
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