Trees Only I Seem To Notice

Singapore has a number of fruit trees under the HDB blocks and on highways which include starfruit, rambutan, jackfruit, loobikka/lovlolikka(Indian coffee plum/Indian sour cherry), mango. Local, exotic and everything else that reminds me of Kerala. I hardly see people acknowledging or appreciating these trees here. The bus to office goes along the lane lined by loobikka trees.

The name lovlolikka itself sounds so lovely. A very popular fruit in Kerala, my early memory of loobikka takes me back to my Class 2 or 3 when kids brought small packs of loobika pickle from the pettikada(aka corner shop). I was strictly instructed not to taste these since they were adulterated(Same instruction goes for sip-up, which was a happening, object of joy then). That is what I had been told all these years.

Years later friends in college described about having loobikka trees and mulberry bushes in their homes. And there I was, my good years spent in arid part of Pondicherry where houses where lined next to, facing and on top of each other, where shade from plants and trees was considered luxurious. I salivated at the thought of plucking these berries and fruits from trees and bushes by myself. That would be great. And people talk about apple plucking. Uff!!  

If you have visited Singapore, by this time you know that plucking fruit from trees is not legal. So I sigh at the berries. The bus is nearing the stop where I have to get down. As if all the torment I went through early in the morning was less, I see mangoes now (the neighbourhood my office is in, has a number of mango trees). I know what you are thinking. No, mangoes here are not seasonal. They appear on the trees whenever they like. Sometimes twice, thrice a year. The mangoes of first tree remind you of kanni manga achar and the second of cut mango pickle. The pattern is real random or at least, I have not observed or read up about the pattern yet. If there were mangoes lining on roads in India, then the cottage industries would definitely flourish. I get down the bus and walk to office. There, on the ground, near my leg I spot two mainas(Acridotheres tristis) catch up over a ripe mango. Is that a Banganapalli or Alphonso? Ok lah! Afterall somebody gets to relish them.