FORGOTTEN SUMMER JEWEL

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

14/VII/2025

 

It was long ago as a kid that one had fallen in love with a fruit as small as a pea, in the ‘royal gardens’ of HH The Maharaja of Kapurthala, Punjab. We had access to the palace, acres of farms and the royal orchards. We used to stay in the campus, courtesy our father who taught in the Sainik School.

 

Very close to our home there was a kutcha track which used to take us around the periphery of the school campus hugging the boundary wall. About a hundred meters from the corner hostel called Azad House was the Royal ‘vineyard’. Grape shrubs from as far as Afghanistan and Chaman in Pakistan were grown there. ‘Bedana’ or the seedless variety were the tastiest.

 

Adjacent to that ‘grape farm’ was a ‘bushy area’ which very few knew about. Some hundred unkempt bushes about six to ten feet high grew there. The leaves were as big as quarter plates. The thin whip like branches would sway in the air and were very difficult to break.

 

That place was a host to all kinds of snakes & scorpions. One had to tread cautiously. Many birds used to nest amongst the bushes. Many came to pick berries. It was a hub of activity in the wilderness. No one stopped us or told us to stay away. We kids feared nothing.

 

This bush grew a ‘red and purple berry’ when ripe. Not very sweet, not very sour but tangy, enough to make you wind. However, it was very uniquely flavourful called “FALSA”.

 

During summer holidays, the whole school campus used to be ours. We as a family would frequent this place to pick berries.

 

Mom would make a cup out of a mature leaf and pin it with a dry twig. Like we have a ‘dona’, or a leaf made bowl.

 

Enthusiastically, we would pick fruits like in a competition and run to mom who collected them in a basket. The sweetest ones were ones which used to fall to the ground after ripening.

 

We did not know about its medicinal values those days. Mom used to tell us “Thanda karta hai”. For us it was a new game, a new fruit and a snack.

 

Only once or twice I came across this fruit being sold on hand carts that too in UP. A call of ‘Thande Faalse le lo’ was enough to catch attention. Thande as they were laid in a heap over a slab of ice. A handful was enough to drift into nostalgia.

 

Later in life one could get an odd bottle of its Sherbet with difficulty. The commercial value of this fruit was too less. Due to the small yield, people stopped growing it as a crop. How sad!

 

Someone even called it “The Forgotten Summer Jewel”. It indeed is a jewel almost extinct. This fruit ripens in the Mango and Litchi season. One had to sweat it out to pluck.

 

It acts as a cooling agent for ‘heat stroke’ by lowering body temperatures. It also acts as a ‘digestive tonic’ and ‘prevents acidity’. Falsa is an ‘anti-inflammatory’ fruit helping in prevention of ‘Asthma’, ‘throat inflammation’ and ‘Bronchitis’.

 

Traditional healers prescribed it for ‘blood purification’ and ‘skin disorders’ like acne and boils. Seeds once dried & ground were used for ‘diabetes management’ in rural medicine. The ‘bark’ of this bush can be peeled easily and used on wounds in traditional medicine. What a versatile fruit it is!

 

In Punjabi and Hindi folk songs this fruit is used as a ‘metaphor’ for fleeting love which is sweet and tangy, seasonal and short lived. Grandmothers would soak the ripe fruit overnight and strain the liquid, reduce it to half and use it as a ‘purple dye’. My mom used to make yummy falsa jam.

 

In UP, one may hear  “Na aam jaise meetha, na falsa jaise khatta, bas bekaar ka admi hai” – He is neither as sweet as a mango nor as tangy as a falsa – just a useless fellow! Now you know what to call a person who is good for nothing.

 

Falsa (Grewia Asiatica) being an uncommon fruit but was so close to my heart deserved a place in our garden. Today, two plants are growing well. Their saplings on arrival were just six inches, frail and dainty. They should have been sown in the ground but due to lack of space they are in pots.

 

Falsa is a hardy plant and needs minimum care and water. However, to grow a plant in the desert environment took some effort and care. My only wish is to see this plant bear fruit this season.

 

Will it remain a forgotten summer jewel or can it be revived? I wonder!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS