Lalbagh Mango Mela on Father's Day

We made this father’s day memorable by taking a trip to famous Mango and Jackfruit mela (fair) at the Lalbagh botanical garden, Bangalore. My morning started with big hug from my daughter accompanied with a self-decorated card and a nice little golden flower made out of throw-away plastic bottle.

Happy I was, indeed!

There had been a failed effort to visit the mela made about 2 weeks back, and this time, we set out again to cover the occasion before it came to a close by the last weekend.

We took a conscious decision not to deviate from our single minded focus on the Mango mela. In fact, we even did not go to the flower gardens.  The mela, itself was a unique experience of a lifetime. The sweet aroma from different kind of mangoes piled high across the walkways beckoned us in their midst. Each had its own beautiful shape and size to boast of, and was ornamented with green, red, yellow patches, being at different stages of ripeness. Above all, it was the lure of the heady aroma wafting in the atmosphere – caressed by the mild sunrays, comforted by the lyrical music of the cool breeze, in the midst of dancing light and shadows.

The area near the famous glass house wore a joyful look with shops in two lines putting up colorful banners and a large gate welcoming one and all. People of different ages with colorful dresses thronged the place like any other festive season. Talking about the festive season, lots of people like us long for this time – the summer and monsoon, only to welcome the king of fruits- the mangoes.

Once soaked into all that was happening around, we got into visiting all the shops from one end to the other  - satisfying our palates with the small bites, before getting down to the serious business of negotiation and purchase. After getting a hang of the relative pricing (though there was not much of a variation between the competing neighbors) , one or two kgs of each type were making their way into our large enough cloth bag (environment conscious, huh!) . As it was really getting difficult to resist the temptation of buying more, we ended up with a huge quantity and planned to share the divine fruit amongst friends and families who could not make it there.

It was an enjoyable family outing after quite some time, specifically since we had spent the last few months dealing with medical emergencies; it was a welcome break. On our way back from the mela, to wrap up the outing, we did manage to take a quick climb up and down the hill top and a quick tour in the bonsai garden nearby. Every time we see these wonders, it makes me revere nature as a creator of innumerable varieties.

I recommend everyone in Bangalore to plan few hours during the mela, the next time around… and am sure you will not be disheartened.