Shobhana Kumar: Lessons in Mango Picking

It’s not just the announcement of summer. If you look close enough you can pick a thing or two about patience and then letting go.

You know life can turn against you— how you can be plucked from your roots, young, weather it all and still remain remarkably well-preserved.

You learn to tell the god-made from the phonies just by looking at them.

You discover endless possibilities— hand-me down traditions, a hundred ways of eating them, and some you make your own.

You know that all of life’s joys can be held in one hand.

You learn gratitude.

More importantly, when you inhale a mango, you will always find home.