P FOR…….

 P FOR…….

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

23/VII/2024

 

Yesterday, I happened to enjoy a unique fruit for the first time in my life. It was neither an apple, nor a pear. It had the colour of an apple and the shape of a pear. The fruit was flavourful and the skin was quite hard. Overall, it was tasty. For me, any fruit at any time of the day is welcome.

I like to eat fruit as a whole. I do not prefer those cut, peel, remove the seeds and sliced kinds along with a sprinkle of ‘kala namak/chat masala’. Straight, ‘neat’, and just the fruit is what I enjoy. Working my way from the fleshiest part in the centre, till one reaches the seeds and then polishing away the sides, is my way of eating them.

It took me ages back when we all were learning about fruits. A was for Apple and P for pineapple. Apple was very commonly available and Pineapple was a fruit which hung with ropes in a fruit shop, twisting and turning with the breeze. We also used to see them packed in ‘yellow panni’ when ‘tokras’ of fruits used to be exchanged during marriages. We could never lay our hands on them.

Then one day we got hold of a can of pineapple slices. The fruit was sour but the syrup was the tastiest thing one had ever had. We could eat that syrup spread on bread or even with a paratha. Mind you, the syrup was rationed unlike jam. Those were the days.

Dad was an English-speaking fanatic. Until about five years of age, I never heard or spoke any other language in my home. But the neighbours and friends were all Hindi speaking. Therefore, learning the mother tongue was the easiest. Yes, understanding Punjabi was a big issue for all of us being outsiders, living in the Princely state of Kapurthala, Punjab.

Be that as it may. One fine day mom brought a fruit home. It was as big as an apple, greenish and very aromatic. The smell was so tempting that I requested mom to give me one straightway. She washed it and gave me one.

She told me it is called ‘Naashpaati’. I ran outside with the fruit in hand where Dad was watering the pots. What are you eating ‘sunny’? I said what mom had told me. Whack came a flying slap and I turned 360 degrees but did not let the fruit fall. It is a Pear, he said sternly. No one had taught us P for pear in the school, but now it was imprinted in my mind that P is for pear also. Sobbing, I ate it.

The next time mom brought a fruit similar to ‘P for’. It looked the same but the colour was tending towards golden. I asked mom its name. She said, it is ‘Babbugosha’. I knew dad would ask me and this Babbugosha thing would invite another slap. I used my brain and walked up to Dad and told him, I am eating a pear. Well done, Sunny. It is indeed a pear. It was a eureka moment for me.

Now I was confused, that a Naashpaati is a pear and so is a Babbugosha. Nevertheless, Babbugosha used to be very soft inside. One bite and the juices would run all over you.

Then one day mom bought green fruits, one third the size of an apple. The shape looked like a pear, it did not smell that aromatic, was juicy, crunchy and tasted somewhat like a pear. Mom again told me the local name. It is a ‘Naak’ she said. You mean N for nose, no not that nose but a Naak. Period!

Another confusion, it tasted like a pear, looked like a pear from Lilliput, but was called a Naak and not Naashpaati or Babbugosha. My vocabulary was increasing. Dad was fond of them. See sunny a small Pear. I was thrilled as that is what I thought to call it if he would have asked me. It was one less slap.

When posted in Chakrata we had a huge Babbugosha tree in the British Captain’s house allotted to me which was laden with ripe fruit. There was more fruit than leaves. We had to get them plucked but the Langurs raided it. They ate everything including the leaves. Not one fruit was left for us to taste. Well, those Pears were not meant for us.

I am not sure if the red pear I ate is grown in India. It has a certain kind of blush, tending to be rouge, but is as good as our Indian Naashpaati.

For me it is always P for Pear and not Pineapple or Parrot. What is P for you? I wonder!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS