Fruit of the heavens
In ancient times, the Indian subcontinent’s famous fruit, the mango, was known as the fruit of the heavens. And so it remains to this day if this story, set in the British Isles, is to be believed. We hear that more than two decades ago, before one of her trips to the UK, the late lamented Big Ben called one of her faithful lieutenants in London, then serving as our Numero Uno diplomat, and asked if she could bring him anything from Pakistan. “Mangoes, please Bibi,” he said and the lady obliged. She brought 120 “petis” or crates from Karachi to London, and presented them to her favourite diplomat.
Obviously, the gent couldn’t consume all 120 crates and distributed them amongst his peers in the diplomatic community in London, and sent some to Buckingham Palace, to Her Majesty the Queen. A few weeks later, at the Buckingham Palace annual garden party, when our diplomat was presented to the Queen, she remarked that she had greatly enjoyed the mangoes. “Alphonsos used to be my favourite,” she said, “but that was before I tasted the ones you sent from Pakistan”. Her Majesty was talking about our peerless Sindhri and Ratol mangoes.
Years have passed since this occurrence but Hubby has ensured that mangoes are sent to Her Majesty regularly every season, and Young Bill continues the tradition set by his parents. Last summer, there was a report in the British tabloids that crates of mangoes marked “Bilawal House” were espied being loaded onto HM’s airplane, for the Queen’s delectation in Balmoral where she holidays in the summer and over Christmas. That’s how much she loves our mangoes!