Step aside, Anwar Ratol

KARACHI: Desi Gola, Gulab Khan and Sauleh Bhai are not names of potential Lollywood characters but self-inspired names that farmers in Sindh have given to their unique self-grown varieties of mangoes.

Mango farmers from interior Sindh are marketing their different varieties of the fruit in Karachi at the Hamara Karachi Festival. The 10-day festival started at the Annu Bhai Park in Nazimabad on Friday.

“Friday was just the launch, but we sold around 500 to 600 kilogrammes,” Javed Ali, the coordinator of the festival, said.

According to him, 200 petis (crates) of mangoes were brought in on Saturday, each weighing around 10 to 12 kgs. The farmers are expecting to sell all of them in one day.

While the mango festival is a 44-year-old tradition in Mirpurkhas, Karachi has never seen the display of such a large variety of mangoes before. Even though the city has a huge market with people, who, Javed feels, can afford any quality and variety of mango, many of the better varieties never reach here.

“All that we get here are mangoes such as Sindhri, Saroli, Anwer Rathore, Chaunsa, and some others, which are not as pulpy and aromatic as these [mangoes at the festival],” Javed explained, adding that the varieties being sold at the festival were the best ones and were always exported immediately.

He claimed that all the varieties are being sold at reduced prices at the festival. The prices they had agreed on were between retail and mandi (wholesale) prices. “A variety of Chaunsa that sells for Rs60 to Rs70 is being sold here for Rs40 to Rs50” he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the president of the Hamara Karachi Foundation (HKF), Nasreen Jalil, said that the festival is an attempt to bring parts of Sindh closer to Karachi. Towns and cities of interior Sindh have been invited to participate in the Hamara Karachi Festival for the first time in the event’s four years.

“People used to come to me and ask why we don’t expand our seasonal festivals to other cities in Sindh so we took this initiative,” explained Jalil, “And what’s better than bringing mangoes to Karachi in summers?”

The festival is not just about the economics but also of entertainment value, Jalil said, adding that it was an attempt to present other sides of Karachi. “It is to present a soft image of Karachi to the world, which will uplift the image of the country as a whole too,” she said.

Speaking about the cultural significance of such festivals, Jalil said that, with the help of the festival, people in Karachi get to see and taste export variety mangoes while at the same time the province’s farmers benefit from the large market of the city.

“This will increase interaction among farmers of Karachi and Sindh and also help bridge any cultural barriers that might exist,” she added.

One of the customers at the festival, Waqar Salman, got to taste a few varieties of the mangoes available. He said that there is great difference between the mangoes grown in interior Sindh mangoes and the ones that people in Karachi got. “Though we can find Saroli here in Karachi, the same variety from Sindh tastes better and sweeter,” he commented.

The 10-day festival will be open each day from 5 pm to 2 am. Other than mangoes, the festival also boasts entertainment such a swings, shopping stalls, amusement and musical shows and its very own food street. Hamara Karachi festivals such as these will also be held in other parts of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2010.