Sweet heart! Have a mango treat

PANCHKULA: It was a ‘hearty-affair’ at the mango fest! Though there were 2,848 varieties of the fruit on display at Pinjore gardens, heart-shaped ‘Valentine’ mango grabbed many eyeballs.
The two-day mango fest that concluded on Sunday saw the fruit in different shapes and sizes. If a variety looked like a small pencil, there was another which was as big as a brick.
Many thronged the festival to have a look at the different types of mangoes that had come from all across the country. “Valentine mango was much in demand. Many youngsters bought it because it looked like a heart. We brought the sweet-tasting mango from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh,” said Usmaan Khan, a farmer. It costs Rs 35 to 40 per mango. “When we saw the heart-shaped mango, we took a shine to it. We have never seen a Valentine mango before. Though it tastes like an ordinary mango, its unique shape has made it a hit,” said Ridhima Datta, a resident of Sector 16, Panchkula.
"I have bought one for my fiancée. She loves the fruit. I am sure the heart-shaped one will delight her," said Uttkarsh Sharma, a resident of Sector 10, Panchkula.
Another variety which pulled crowds was "Jali Minda", in which each mango was as big as a brick. "One mango weighs around five kilogram and costs between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,500. This variety too grows in Saharanpur," said Mohammad Lukmaan, a farmer.
Grape-shaped mangoes, "Sadabahar", too, hogged the limelight. "Tasty chutney is prepared with its leaves," smiled Krishan Kumar, another farmer there. The pencil-shaped fruit saw many kids around its stall.