Pranay’s Mango Tree

Bright yellow mangoes with their fragrance and juicy sweetness occupied most of little Pranay’s thoughts these days. Now, this was not an out of ordinary occurrence given that Pranay and his family were major mango fanatics. Year after year along with the summer heat a certain mango mania descended upon the Sharma household.

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Mummy being the sanest of the lot had realized early on in life that the only way she could deal with her family’s crazy love for mangoes was by ensuring that the brown wicker basket adorning the dining table was forever groaning under the weight of several varieties of the coveted fruit. However, despite her best efforts, Pranay who was the youngest in the family, suffered from a constant nagging worry that one day he would come home from school to find an empty wicker basket and no mangoes to sink his teeth in. What with a bully of an elder sister who shared his manic love for the fruit, he could well imagine his worst fear coming true any day.

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As he sat one day contemplating this terrible  eventuality, a sudden bright idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. What if he planted a mango tree of his own? Then all the mangoes borne by this tree would technically belong to him, thought a jubilant Pranay. Proud of himself for having hatched such a brilliant plan, he quickly approached his sole counsel for all affairs-Mummy-for advice.
What ensued was a rather long drawn process with an air of urgency making it resemble a high priority project concerning state security or something similar. The best mango of the lot was prudently chosen and sliced. Its oval seed was extracted and washed with utmost care almost as if a new born baby was being cleaned up post delivery. After Vishnu Bhaiyya, the sahayak had dug a pit of exact dimensions in the backyard, Pranay placed the dried seed in Mother Earth’s womb. The cherished seed now tucked in folds of soft black mud was to be guarded and nurtured by Pranay.

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Each day Pranay would eagerly rush back from school to water the seed and feed it with manure. This ritual went on for over two months and as each day passed without any trace of the much awaited tiny sprout pushing it’s way out of the layer of mud, Pranay’s disappointment grew. Finally, no longer able to see him downcast and distraught, Mummy asked Vishnu Bhaiyya to dig out the errant seed so that she could figure out the problem. Vishnu Bhaiyya rummaged through the mud and pryed out a half rotten mango seed with disgusting worms feeding on it. Mummy looked at the find in dismay. She couldn’t help but picture Pranay’s crestfallen face when he would be told about the horrible fate of his beloved mango seed.

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Making up her mind, she rushed Vishnu Bhaiyya to the nearest nursery instructing him to get the tiniest mango sapling available. Vishnu Bhaiyya returned shortly with a four feet tall plant which was nowhere close to the tiny sapling that Mummy was expecting. “There were no tiny saplings in any of the nurseries. I checked all the nurseries around this area,” he said helplessly. Pranay will never buy this tale despaired Mummy.

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Nevertheless, Mummy and Vishnu Bhaiyya proceeded to place the plant in the exact same location where the seed was buried. As soon as Pranay returned, he was welcomed with more than usual exuberance and a tall glass of his favourite mango milk shake. Unsure of what he had done to deserve it, Pranay habitually made way to the backyard to water the mango seed. Mummy and Vishnu Bhaiyya also followed him shakily and waited a few steps away as Pranay stood rooted in his place staring at the mango plant which had magically appeared. A soft breeze made the long green and brown leaves of the plant sway. Pranay snapped out of his trance and let out a sharp squeal of joy. “Mummy, look my mango seed has sprouted and has grown so quickly!! I always knew that the regularity with which I was feeding it with manure would certainly pay off.” And just as suddenly Mummy and Vishnu Bhaiyya’s grim faces broke into big smiles.

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It has been 12 years since then and little Pranay is no longer little. He acts all macho and manly showing off his Elvis like side burns and his toned muscles but there is one thing that brings out the six- year- old boy in him-complete with a toothy grin and dimples. Till date he firmly believes that the mango seed he had lovingly planted, miraculously sprouted into a fine looking  four- feet tall plant overnight all because of his love and care.

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Santa Claus, the Tooth fairy, Christmas elves and more-maybe that’s the list to which Pranay’s mango tree belonged. It was an innocent child’s figment of imagination which proved to him how perfect the world was. I wish this was something grownups could do as well. It would make each day so much easier to get by, won’t it?

Preeti Sharma is an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and dabbles with creative writing. As she stepped into the hectic and mundane routine of corporate life, her writing became her  stress buster. Her insatiable wanderlust and need for change prompt her to travel as much as possible.