Lichis....

Amuly May moments. Every May. Lichis sighted at Borivili market. Will be around for a week. Bright red. Ruskin Bond and lichi trees in Dehra Dun and Mussorie. Lichis are poesy fruits. Me paused at the bhaiya lolling lichis in bamboo baskets. 'Rs.50 a dozen, Muzzaffarpur se hai,' the bhaiya tempted, offering a lichi for a chew. Hard to trust bhaiyas; they are loose change versions of Indian corporates; the customer is doodled on weight, quality and price; and quite sweetly, too; Facebook postings are against debating prices with bhaiyas baked in May, wet in July and drying in October. Am not so sure. At the Borivili markets, bhaiyas, severally, have denied Amuly moments; stepping home and Rama is at her critical best over the purchases. Turned down the lichi offer and walked away in search of Rama. She is keen on mookku mambazham for thokku, raw jackfruit and roasted jackfruit chips; plastic packed banana chips bought from Bedekar Stores carting delicacies from Konkan; and then for making avakkai, Rama selected a few palm-size raw, green mangos; a team of young bhaiyas edit them into eatable pieces; avakkai making is on. At 11, the Borivili market turns mango; young bhaiyas scrape mangos for moramba; women argue, remain unsettled over prices; chopping and scraping costs Rs.20 per kg, spurring Parliamentary violence; but bhaiyas have seen many Mays, mangos and lichis. My friend was not at his stall in the municipal market; 'chodke chala gaya, kya,' me asked; his neighbour returned: 'koi chodke jaata hai kya?'; nobody leaves. To beat the bhaiyas me switched on the computer and surfed vegetables and fruits at big basket and godrej; big basket blinked with lichis while godrej sported items me never has heard or seen. A month ago, ordered vegetables from big basket; they were not particularly good; they are as tricky as bhaiyas though big basket may offer the best to King Khan. Prefer, buying from bhaiyas to food sites as the bhaiya allows a pick and select. Lichi bhaiya stuck on; he did not allow me to wander; 'saab taaja maal hai';' bought lichis, skinned the red skin, popped them at home with Shreya and Chiyu; and they wowed, Amuly seconds; Chiyu brought out ice-creams, dipped the lichis, lost in the funning. For Shreya, lichi comes ahead of phanas. Yes, the bhaiya played fair. Will there be lichis, next year; is Ruskin Bond having lichis with ice-creams for breakfast and lunch; unsure as fires eat away Himalayan forests. Anurag Behar in Mint writes: 'The vacuum of collective imagination on a sustainable model of development and effective governance, for the most magnificient mountains in the world, is driving their demise and abandonment. This is an exemplar for how not to do it. An exemplar of how to do it is not far away in the Himalayas: Bhutan. In her long essay, Vandana Mishra says: 'To tell the truth, I have begun to worship Nature a little more than God in the past few years...We have a tree right in front of us. I offer a namaskar to it each morning, without fail.'  If there are no lichis in May, there wont be Bond, bhaiyas absent and me wont be. Whom to pray? Lichis, lichis please dont go away; dont take away Amuly Mays.