voices in the wind

Summer is drawing to a close. There is a slow breeze blowing in from the west. This is the breeze that will soon bring the monsoon to Kerala. This must be the breeze that billowed the sails of Vasco da Gama's ships as he sailed into Kappad on May 27,1498.

On this hot afternoon, I sit in the shade of the mango tree and feel the light breeze on my back. If I listen carefully I can hear the excited calls of the Portuguese sailors as they approach land after almost a month on the sweltering seas.

Did they walk through the streets, gaping at the bare-breasted Malabarese women carrying baskets full of mambazham to the weekly market? One of the sailors must have picked up a yellow fruit from a bamboo basket and bitten into it and felt the warm juice soak into his scurvious gums. 



              According to Merriam-Websters dictionary the origin of the word mango:

              Portuguese manga, probably from Malayalam māṅṅa

              First Known Use: 1582