BackWeekend vacations: Sweet summer memories in Ratnagiri
A coastal town with an Alphonso tree in almost every yard, and a connection to Myanmar
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Think summers, and memories of delicious, sunshine-yellow Alphonso mangoes come rushing back. An uncle who had a farm in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra would arrive with cartons of the fruit. Eaten whole or with pooris dunked in aam ras, mangoes signalled the beginning of the summer vacation.
We used to wait for him in delirious anticipation. With the mangoes came the stories of his travels. I specifically remember being riveted to ones that included Myanmar, which was a faraway, unfamiliar land.
Then, my uncle moved to another country, and Ratnagiri went off our radar for many years.
So last summer, for the first time, I drove down from Pune to Ratnagiri for a weekend vacation. I was struck by the town’s dramatic location. It is flanked by the verdant Sahyadri mountain range (or Western Ghats) and the azure Arabian Sea. I expected only mango groves, so the coastal panorama took me by surprise—the sea, clear skies, gentle rolling hills, coconut palm-fringed, deserted beaches, and lush banana, cashew and areca palm plantations.
The farm, which sprawls over 120 acres, is owned by Amar Desai, a fifth-generation mango farmer. I walked through the dense copse, discovering that the Alphonso trees were short, and the mangoes ripened naturally, without chemicals. The white mango blossoms looked and smelt ethereal.
This juicy variety of mangoes, with a creamy pulp, is named after Afonso de Albuquerque, a 15th century Portuguese general whose administrative prowess helped establish colonies in India. It was he who brought this variety to the country. Ratnagiri gets heavy rainfall and the fertile alluvial valleys in the region took easily to mango production. That’s how Ratnagiri became home to the famous Alphonso.
Next, I explored the history that whispered from hidden corners of the small town. Far away on a cliff, I saw the outline of the craggy Ratnadurga Fort that hasn’t been able to withstand the ravages of time. This fort was built during the Bahmani rule, and in 1670, Maratha king Shivaji conquered it, defeating Bijapur ruler Adil Shah.
I walked the perimeter of the walls of this horseshoe-shaped fort. All that’s left of the fort are decrepit walls and a temple. At the end of the promontory is a lighthouse, which stands like a lone sentinel over the Arabian Sea and its roaring waves.
As I sat at the fort by the sea, taking in the tranquility, I pondered on the connection between Myanmar and the land of mangoes. It felt surreal.
Weekend Vacations offers suggestions on getaways that allow for short breaks from metros. The writer tweets at @KalpanaSunder.
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