Mango season

Hello hello, how are we almost halfway through 2026? Who let this happen so quickly? Thank you for allowing me in your inbox once again, I don’t take this for granted. Thank you for reading, replying, and subscribing. 

🌊 Hi, I’m Sachi, and this is Currents, a newsletter about fruit, documenting, and observing. If you like this, share it with someone. Say hello, let’s chat! If you want to unsubscribe, the link is at the bottom. 

I’ve been trying to break out of the pattern of complaining and being a full blown grump. It’s a bad habit that I let run rampant for too long. I’m combating complaining by observing. I loathe the heat with a passion and fare better in the cold than the heat. Mumbai has 2 seasons - wet summer and dry summer. You can imagine how complaining about the heat is the lowest hanging fruit I go for pretty much every day. Being drenched with sweat from the short walk from the station to work makes me want to commit violence. Sweat is gross. What it does to a rare outfit that I put together thoughtfully is worse. Instead of praying that someone will pick me up with a giant claw machine and toss me on a cold mountain, I (sometimes) observe the trees on that sweltering walk crafted in hell. We’re going for the easiest of easy moves here. There are copper pods, a few mango trees, startling pink bougainvillea, and rain trees. There are 3-4 cats in that same stretch that I’ve named with zero creativity. There’s the Metro Cat who sits right by the escalator every morning mocking us office goers that he can get by napping while we have to go to work in silly outfits and pay taxes. There’s the Trash Cats, that used to roll in heaps of trash (which the authorities have dutifully cleared) and now hang out next to the snack and tea shop, somehow looking as dirty as ever. And there's Chaat Cat that hangs out near a chaat stall that gets set up every evening. He naps in the same spot in the mornings. It’s only an experiment but it has got me complaining about the heat less. Do I accept the disgusting weather and like it? Not one bit. It sucks and I wish the planet was cooling and not heating for purely selfish reasons. BUT it has made me 2% less like the Grinch. For now, this is good enough.

Suggestions are welcome. 

Mango season

Many Indians find themselves in a frenzy at this time of the year. Expect to find juice dripping down their arms as soon as they get their hands on the first mangoes of the season. Whether you’re an enthusiast who buys one as soon as you see temporary mango shops set up, or source them from a farm, or climb up a tree and pick a mango yourself out of sheer impatience,  Indians who take their mangoes seriously are of a different breed. Our devotion to mangoes is not to be underestimated. A year is split between mango season and the wait for mango season.

Every year restaurants and brands find new ways to sneak mangoes into their offerings and every year we’ll find ourselves trying them dutifully. Yes, I waited all year for mango milkshake and mangoes sneaking their way into my skincare. Mango in your dosa? Bring it on. Mango on your pizza? Gross, but okay. Mango in every conceivable dessert. Let’s go! And then there’s the traditional ways; eat it, slice it, blend it, freeze it, pickle it, preserve it, or juice it. I eat mangoes for breakfast everyday and would happily eat them as meals. (Is sneaking protein into mangoes the next marketing stunt? I hope not) When I was away from India, I tried to get my fix elsewhere. I ate whatever kind of mangoes I could. I’m biased but nothing else comes close. Mango salsa and my frequent Thai sticky rice orders didn’t hit the spot, which is the feeling of bowing down in reverence to whatever god invented the mango. Can one possibly be more over the top?

Various kings in the history of India promoted mango cultivation to show their appreciation. Shah Jahan had his mangoes sent from the Konkan coast, while Akbar had a mango grove of his own. Mangoes appear in miniature paintings from across the country (including Mughal, Deccan, and Rajput paintings) across the centuries. This fruit is a pretty big deal. The humble mango has made it from the kitchens of kings, to their paintings, to motifs in art, to prints on fabric, on our clothes, to objects, from becoming accessible to us all in its entirety, as motifs, and all the way to Isha Ambani’s outfit at the MET gala. It has come a long way.

The mango feels like a symbol for the Indian tendency to devote themselves fully to what they love. We love things deeply and it shows. Be it mangoes, cricket, a snack of choice, Indians go all in. I find myself debating the best mango varieties with someone or the other every year. Alphonso fans will argue with people who prefer a different kind. We’ll argue about where to find the best chaat or vada pav. We’ll cheer passionately for our favorite IPL/football team. It’s a charming trait we don’t give ourselves enough credit for. We care so much about some things but conversely fully ignore things we don’t care about. I wonder if we could (occasionally) channel all that energy into something beyond our own obsessions into something that concerns people beyond us. What could that be like? Can we try?

Until we do, which mango do you like the most? How do you eat it? What are your mango related memories?

Mango season 1.5

It’s mango season, and naturally, I’ve been keeping a keen eye on the birds who have realized this fact too and are flocking to the mango tree outside my window. The walk from the gate to the entrance of my building involves walking a twisted noodle shaped path to avoid the fallen mangoes left by parrots that have had their fill. I love it. It’s hard to ignore the ruckus in the morning that the parrots create while getting their daily dose of fruit. I waited in anticipation ever since I saw blossoms on the mango tree outside my window early this year. They have such a mild and lovely smell. The pollinators took their job seriously in 2026 and now the branches are heavy with mangoes. Me and my parents mulled over whether it’s worth hiring someone to pick them for the people of my building but for now we agreed that the birds should have them. Why should we have all the fun?

Mango season, 2026

While Mumbai was spared rain in the first half of 2026, it rained in other parts of Maharashtra, destroying crops of mangoes. A mango farm that we place orders to every year was hit badly too. Not only will the change in climate and untimely rains affect the quantity of mangoes available but also the quality. Many mangoes look fine on the outside and are spoiled on the inside. The saddest part is that there isn’t anything we can do about it that will make an immediate change. Can it move us to change things?

It’s like the silver pomfret, one of my favorite fish to eat, that is now endangered because of overfishing and pollution. This is something we do have some control over by simply choosing not to eat it, no matter how tempting it is. Traditional practices encourage not fishing during breeding season to ensure enough catch for the rest of the year. Those practices are barely followed anymore. Restaurants serve fish indiscriminately. 

We’re at a point where easy, constant and cheap access to some of the things we love is actively harming society and the planet. We not only want perpetual convenience, we feel entitled to it regardless of who is paying the price for it. Are we okay with the way things are going? Can we use our love for something to conserve it?

As summer makes its presence felt and we enjoy our favorite seasonal snacks, maybe it would help to take a moment to think of where these things come from, who is involved, and if we could do them any better.

Comfort recommendation station  

Remarkably Bright Creatures - is a movie starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman that released on Netflix very recently. Full disclosure, I’ve not read the book. People on Letterboxd say the book is better. I can’t speak about that but I can say that it’s a heartwarming and life affirming movie. A widow and a man who comes to a small town and an octopus in an aquarium find healing and closure in a very wholesome way. If you’re looking for something sweet and not too demanding, this one is worth watching.

Do you have any comfort movies or shows you’d recommend? I’m watching my fair share of ‘good’ and ‘critically acclaimed’ media but I do think comfort watches deserve their rightful place up there. We can all use a little comfort and something wholesome.

Until next time.

Warmly,

S