On The Trail Of The King Of Mangoes

What binds together holy men, Harley Davidsons, thermal plants and Blackberry-toting farmers? Look no further than the golden alphonso. “Have you come about the mangoes?” asks Mohammad Iqbal. It’s uncanny how everyone here seems to sense that my presence has something to do with the alphonso. “Are you a reporter?,” he continues, with a practiced glance of someone who has lived all his life in the alphonso belt. I am in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, India - the kingdom of the alphonso. And mecca for mango lovers. The celebrity status of this distinguished fruit draws visitors from far and wide, and during mango season, residents bask in the reflected glory of the golden alphonso. Hiring a car from Mumbai, I had hit the road to Ratnagiri (the narrow strip of land on the Konkan coast that claims to produce the best alphonsos), on a mission to find out what makes mangoes from this region so very special. If you go by local lore, there are mangoes, and then there is the alphonso. From March to July, India produces more than 1,000 varieties of mango. But none of them are as desirable as the alphonso. The arrival of the fruit changes the rhythm of life in India. The love for alphonso is at par with the obsession with Bollywood and cricket. I stop at AR farms in the village of Nate. It is run by Ashok Ranade, a sturdy man with a booming voice. In Ranade’s AAR Farms, mangoes are allowed to ripen naturally, nourished by organic fertilizers and pesticides made with cow’s urine and extracts of different plants. To stave off pests, Ranade also uses pots laced with hormones from female fruit flies. The pheromone laced pots sway in the breeze like sirens, giving off an irresistible aroma that lures male flies to a presumably blissful death.The farm houses a small guesthouse for tourists looking to connect with nature. Guests can hang out on a machan perched on top of a hill, which offers a spectacular view of the sea and surrounding countryside. Ranade offers boat rides with the chance of dolphin spotting across the azure bay near his farm, as well as delicious meals cooked by Mrs Ranade, who also makes and sells her own line of organic pickles and chutneys. A glance at the visitors book reveals several happy tourists from adjoining areas of Pune and Nasik, besides a wandering cyclist from France, and a mango connoisseur who came all the way from California to taste alphonsos. “Our mangoes have been sampled by Queen Victoria” says Ranade with a proud smile.