Small, sweet and succulent with history

A more than century-old mango tree holds sway over Rataul village in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district. Many have taken shelter in its shade.

Though it no longer bears fruit, it is what the villagers describe as the ‘Janak (king) of the famous Rataul mango’.

Although there are many stories about its origin, nobody is sure who actually planted it.

What is known, however, is that when Sheikh Mohd Afaq Faridi returned to the village after completing his inter college in 1905, he noticed this mango tree in its infancy near one of the farms. He asked a gardener to graft the plant, and in a year’s time, four mango trees sprouted. Thus began the young boy’s love affair with mangoes.

Years later, Afaq Faridi resigned from his job and devoted his life to this ‘sweet mission’.

After his marriage, he set up a mango nursery christened Shohra-e-afaq in 1928 and got it registered in 1935. He named this mango variety Anwar Rataul, now popularly known simply as the Rataul mango.

It is said that Afaq Faridi was so passionate about this king of fruits that he could tell the variety just by smelling or chewing the leaves of the trees. And the credit for bringing this village on the mango map of India goes to him.

Today the village, situated about 30 km from Delhi, is known far and wide mainly for this variety of mango, although several other types are also grown here.

Though mango growers in Rataul have won a number of prizes in India and abroad and even held mango festivals, the Rataul mango is yet to capture prime place in the market as do the many other varieties, laments Afaq’s grandson Junaid Faridi.

Junaid, equally passionate about mangoes, has been trying his best to preserve the variety his grandfather propagated. “The irony is that this very variety of mango was gifted to Indira Gandhi by Pakistan President Zia ul Haq, although its origins are in India.”

What is further disappointing for Junaid, who was earlier the pradhan of Rataul, is that he is not getting any help from the authorities to promote this variety of mango. Though small in size it is deliciously sweet, vouch the people who have tasted it.

“If only saplings of the Rataul mango were developed in government nurseries like the other varieties of mango are. Then more and more people would get to eat it,” Junaid says.

He has also been knocking on the doors of the authorities concerned for subsidy to develop nurseries in the village, as this will provide employment to young men.

He says that at one time more than 80 per cent of the population in the village drew its income from mango orchards. Now, with shrinking land holdings and the population increasing to nearly 40,000, the younger generation is left with no choice but to take up jobs elsewhere.

Junaid wants to ensure that the original tree that gave birth to the ‘Rataul mango’ does not decay or become uprooted.

Taking no chances, he is planning to undertake a DNA profiling of the mother tree for the records.

He has also bought the land surrounding the tree to develop a knowledge park, where the history of the tree will be inscribed in cast iron.

“I want every passerby to see the mango tree that transformed the economy of Rataul and preserve the legacy of the mango the village is known for,” he says with conviction.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi

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