By Riaz Yusufzai
Mango is known as the “””King of all Fruits “” in South Asia….Renowned urdu poet of Indian subcontinent Mirza Asadullah Khan popularly known as “” Mirza Ghalib”” was very fond of mango. He on several occasion utterred beautiful words for his fondness of mango which are still quoted & inscribed in the pages of history. Once he said, Mangoes need to have two qualities. They need to be sweet & there needs to be plenty””When it comes to mangoes it must be sweet & in great number. Ghalib’s love for mango did not end there. On another occasion when donkey ignored to eat mango & its peels he was quoted by sarcastically saying “”Donkey does not eat mangoes”” Similarly once Mirza Ghalib was invited by Emperor Bahader Shah Zafar to his mango orchard where Ghalib started looking at the fully ripe mango on the trees by saying “”Everything has the name marked on it of the person who will enjoy it. The king understood & in return sent gifts of mango baskets to Mirza Ghalib. Perhaps after this the subcontinent dignatories particularly the politicians also started sending of mango as a gifts to each other. MANGOES PARTY FOR JOURNALISTS. In the picture taken almost 21 years back in one hotel of Swat, I am trying to sip nectar/ juice from the seed of mango while Ex correspondent of BBC & Ex Bureau Chief of GEO News Mehmood Jan Baber squeezing the mango in his both hands before following on my foot prints of eating it. His curiosity of eating mango can be judged from his body language especially from his wide open eyes & teeth reaction that how happy he is of going to eat mango ( It does not mean he was taking mango for the 1st time but he was our trip leader & was taking care of all of us to eat their respective share of mangoes & then he will eat his share of mangoes at the end ) while Saiful Islam Safi with smiling open teeth & Abid Pervez Awan sitting beside him have already finished their job by eating all mangoes in their respective plates. Similarly Naeem Sarhadi has peeled it & almost ate half of it while the other colleague on his right side from Daily Khabrain has also finished his job of mango eating…. ..Famous pashto comedian & Tv star Ismail Shahid & his CD crew members were also staying in the same hotel on the occasion for filming CD play in picturesque Swat valley. They also met us after the party. Initially when CD’s play culture was introduced in the province majority of CD plays were filmed/ shoot in Swat owing to its wonderful lush green landscaping & natural beauty “VARIETY OF MANGO”. The variety of mango was originally made popular by Sher Shah Suri throughout the Indian subcontinent while commemorating his victory over Hamayun at Chaunsa at Bihar. He gave his favourite mango the name chaunsa. Today Rahimyar Khan & Multan in Punjab are centre of chaunsa cultivation & export. In an International market its demand is very high. Pakistan is the 5th largest mango producer in the world. Mango is the 2nd largest produced fruit of Pakistan after citrus. Punjab & Sindh are the major mango grower provinces. More than 200 varieties of mango are cultivated in Pakistan.. Most popular types of mangoes in Pakistan are Langra Chaunsa, Anwar Ratol, Sindhri, Dussehri etc, Sindhri & Chaunsa are the most popular varities & are being exported in huge quantity. MANGO DIPLOMACY, Mainly this year reportedly Pakistan gifted mangoes to 32 countries as a part of mango diplomacy. Amongst them few of the countries refused with thanks to accept it as part of covid-19 SOP guidelines. Beside Foreign diplomacy local politicians also use to send mangoes to each other as a goodwill gesture as well as to get one another support in time of political turmoil & crisis. The incumbent Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah in his last tenure had sent truck loaded with mangoes karates to every parliamentarians in Sindh Assembly as a thanks giving gifts for supporting him while replacing Syed Qaim Ali Shah as Chief Minister & this news was carried by all media prominently….MANGOES HEALTH BENIFITS…Mangoes are very good for health as they are rich in vitamins & minerals. Mangoes are rich source of vitamin A & vitamun C which are good for our eyes & health. Mangoes are also rich in vitamin E, zinc, iron & calcium. Vitamin E is also good for our skin & calcium makes our bones stronger. Following on the foot prints of Mirza Ghalib we shall consume mango in variety of ways & must do it for all the goodness of vitamins & minerals it has.
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