With the mercury levels gradually increasing, we come to the realisation that yet another season of summer will begin shortly.
It is the season which is usually disliked by the people as many have to battle the problem of water scarcity and if not so, at least those who have to step out of their homes will have to fight rashes and other skin ailments throughout the season. But one thing that everyone likes to do in summer is to gallop curd rice with a piece of juicy vadu manga.
Announcing the arrival of peak summer, the Vadu mangas have reached Mylapore streets in Chennai. These green and tender vadus which are available in different types have now started attracting the people. “The season for the tender mangoes start during the Tamil month of Maasi and will be available for a month. The time during which it will be available is very short as its season will get over even before the peak summer begins here,” says Suseela, a vendor.
“This year we have different varieties like Madurai Azhagar Koil vadu, Periyakulam vadu, Coimbatore vadu, Trichy vadu, Thirumoorthi Hills vadu and naatu vadu which is from Madavaram,” says Susheela pointing to the different flavours of tender mangoes grouped separately. The vendors get each varieties in boxes on wholesale from the Koyambedu Market. Explaining more about the different varieties, she says “Usually people like to buy the one from Madurai as it will be tasty. Coimbatore vadus will be spicy and Periyakulam vadu will have a mix of spice and sour taste.”
With the Panguni festival currently happening most of the vendors state that it is affecting their sales. “The sale so far this year is not very good and with the traffic restrictions in Mada streets due to the ongoing Panguni Festival, not many people are coming to buy. We hope that sales will improve after the festival,” says Kavitha, another vendor. The prices of the tender mangoes range from Rs 180 to 250 based on the quality.
“Compared to last year the prices have increased this year since not many mangoes are available in the market due to shortfall in rain last year, with the sales also not going well, we didn’t even buy other variety which comes from Palakkad,” says Ganesh, another vendor, adding that because of the less availability the season is expected to be much shorter this year.
Some customers however are happy with the arrival of the mangoes. “Vadu Mangoes are a must in our household during summer. Even though the duration of its availability is very less, once it is made into a pickle it stays till the next season. The prices have also not increased and the mangoes are also fresh here,” says Sivaram, a resident of Mylapore.