Mangoes Galore!

Rs 35 - Written on a slate is what you see in the barrow full of mangoes all around Marredpally, Secunderabad. This season has seen an unprecedented supply of Mangoes. Secunderabad is one place where you get all fruits in abundance. Be it grapes, chikoos, guavas or mangoes; there are places where farmers directly put up their makeshift stalls and sell. There are plenty of vineyards in the proximity of 20 KM from the city. This should tell you how much more we are supplied with fresh grapes.

Though there are plenty of mango sellers out there in the street, not all mangoes are nature ripen. The usage of calcium carbide stones to ripen them has grown over limits. Over the month, I've developed the skill in identifying the good ones. Never be taken away by it's color is the thumb rule.

Prices vary according to the locality. It was Rs 40 per kg this morning in the street where my house is located. It is Rs.30 per kg where the farmers have put up their roadside market.

Yeah, it's lunch time!

Kids in my neighborhood love mangoes and we always have a nice time eating together. Our objective is to turn the seed white.



Shambhavi still fighting with the seed!!

Yesterday I bet on Brazil with my niece for 3 mangoes. It was a tough match against Portugal. They had 5 players in defense. Brazil, with Kaka, Elano and Robinho would have put a great show with their unique "Beautiful Game" style. On the other hand, Ronaldo made amazing attempts to kick the ball into the nets but all in vain. It was a draw; how disappointing it is to lose mangoes :-(. We finally agreed on 2 mangoes each!

Shambhavi and myself happened to go on a camel ride this afternoon.

Did I know that sitting on the camel's hump will make it run wild?

A day in June

June - the month of south-west monsoon. Surprisingly, it set in early this season. I think we should find a new author to re-write "Rain rain go away" rhyme; because children enjoy playing in the rain these days! Hyderabad experienced good showers until now. Yesterday and today had been dramatic. We had heavy showers last night; water gushing down the road. The roots of many trees gave up and the branches of many lowered causing disruption to the electric lines. Yeah, we had the power go down. The rain stopped only after 3:00 AM today.

Being Saturday, my house mates and I were all at home. Every minute seemed like an hour without power and our computer down. I think this is the only time in 6 months the desktop rested for more than 8 hours. When we were all sitting and discussing about world peace, global warming and several other important issues we heard a commotion down the road.This started at 8:00 AM.

A dead tree right opposite to our house has completely rested on the main electric wires. That's the reason we had no power. It is Marredpally municipal's call to take the tree down without breaking the lines.

All characters depicted below are non-fictional. Any resemblance to persons sleeping or awake or dreaming is purely and completely coincidental.

This is just another witness about Indian Management.

First, there came 5 people ( 4 supervisors and 1 labor man with a saw ). They all stood together and analyzed how to bring the tree down for about an hour. The labor guy went up the tree and cut a small branch just above the electric lines. That took about 20 minutes and when he came down, hot tea was served for all. It was almost 10:00 AM

We were getting ready to go out for breakfast. My house mate Anish challenged me that they will bring down the tree only after a crowd of 50 people gather in the place. I didn't dare to challenge him back because I know that's exactly how it's gonna end.

After the tea break and few more people adding to the present crowd, 12 - 15 approximately; they seemed to wait for something. One among the many supervisors has made a deft move in calling for extra help. We were back from having our breakfast when the cherry picker arrived - "the-extra-help". The sole labor guy was put in the cabin and lifted high only to saw another small branch off the tree.

They tried out different moves with the cherry picker to bring the tree down. All they needed was another round of tea before they could work/think further. The supervisors were in deep discussions when few more work-men arrived. They tried tying the tree to the back of the cherry picker and pulling the tree in the opposite direction. But, nothing seemed to work. It was almost lunch time by then.

When we came back after our lunch, we were surprised to see a crane arriving the site to assist the cherry picker - another deft move after 5 hours.


Finally, they tied the tree to the crane and uprooted it - that moment was awesome. Anish was right, we had a huge crowd.



The tree was uprooted vertically and then lowered.


I, an odd man out, clicking snaps around, clapped in exaltation as the tree came down. The guy standing beside was gawking at me. Seeing him, I know that he is one among the supervisor. I returned him a broad smile, but his expression worsened. I knew right then, it is not safe for me to stay there anymore and rushed back home. It was 2:00 PM.

The power came back at 2:30PM