The Mango Man of India !

Lately, the word mango has become the most used reference for a common man in India. The Government of India brands a common man as a “Aam Admi” in official national popular Hindi language. The media has translated “Aam Admi” as a mango man. Mango is called “Aam” in Hindi. I am still not sure whether the media has tried to upgrade the status of a common man or it is just a satirical synonym. However, the surface area of the  graph of this 21^st century mango man optimizes for the middle-middle class Indians as this category is the primary reason for the prosperity of media by raising its target rating points (TRP). The graph tapers down on the negative side where the poorest of the poor lurk like jungle grass and radiates at the grass root on the other side captured by  the upper middle class category who are going berserk to get themselves identified among the rich and the affluent.

Now-a-days, If one compares the Indian politicians with a street dogs , many people put strong objections to it . They rightly feel that this is an insult to street dogs.

I have also strong objections for calling a common man to be a mango man. I treat this to be a great insult ; not to a common man but to a mango tree. Only Indian “Mahatma” or the world class saints could reach to some of the qualities, virtues and wisdom of a mango tree.

A mango tree ( Mangifera indica) has a life up to 300 years. Though some dwarf varieties are also being grown, a fully grown mango tree could be 100⁺ feet tall with a crown radius of 30⁺ feet. Its leaves are evergreen. The Indians use its leaves and wooden branches for religious rituals. Its fruit called mango is a stony flesh. It is eaten while unripe and are pickled to various tastes. Its ripe fruit has a wide range of sweetness from slightly sour to deeply sweet and come in multitude of flavours, sizes and shapes . On an average, a mango tree gives around 200-1000 fruits during onset of the rainy season weighing 1-10 quintals.

The Hindu dominated India shows a ripe mango held by Lord Ganesh, the symbol of attainment. Mango blossoms are used for worshipping the goddess Sarasvati, the symbol of knowledge. The goddess Ambika of the Jain is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree. In several places in the world its fruit and leaves are used as floral decorations at auspicious ceremonies.

Having written all this, try to visualize such a tree standing majestically for centuries, giving shelters to birds, shades to  tired, fragrance to passers by, delivering delicious fruits in quintals without making any distinction among poor of the poorest and rich of the richest. If you happen to look through a speeding train window, these mango trees look like in meditation but with a difference. The Saints and the yogis do also sit on meditation but for a while. The mango tree stands rooted for centuries never going a-begging from one door to the another with a bowl but is fully satisfied with what its root , leaves and barks can adsorb and absorb. It never preaches but fans out fragrant breeze to freshen the air and the environment. 

A common man anywhere around the world has the same credentials. It has as many vices but a few virtues. Right from when he takes birth, he takes more than what he gives. He consumes more than what he could easily give. He never loves to stand as one family bound to each other with love and respect. He does not understand the power of honesty, sacrifice and service. He fights among each other rather than becoming a courageous and disciplined army. He never believes that the service to the nation is the service of the Lord of the Lords nor that the devotion to the people is the devotion to the supreme self. He loves only himself.

This universe and the Earth has born from imperfection. The dirt and debris collected by a black hole get unified and goes on to become a red star, a dwarf star and to further annihilation. On Earth, the nature has over a long period of time, slowly and steadily made flora and fauna to come closer to perfection. Only this common man is promoting those forces and people who are polluting the environment and trying to undo what the nature is ever trying to attain.

This common man has to choose whether he shall side with the perfecting forces or the annihilating forces. Both the measures have the same Greek tragedy. A perfect state ceases to react and becomes passive. The synonym of passiveness is death. A state full of anarchy also culminates to chain reaction leading finally to dirt and debris. But “Nirvana” or “Moksha” is certainly more beautiful than an explosion with implosion integrated.

While “Nirvana” is what a mango tree attains, the opposite is true for a common man.

However, the nature creates anything with a perfect objective in its mind. A measured amount of dirt is necessary to sustain a friendly atmosphere so is the grass which is not created for trampling but to make thge walk pleasurable and healthy; but to make the Earth green and devoid of desert. These dirt particles and sand goes on to make concrete and bricks that has created the modern world. Where there is grass, there is no desert.

A common man alone is like a dirt particle in a glass of drinking water. But when he conglomerate and corporates it becomes a brick and then a wall and then a building and then a city and then a metro. When the common man unites he makes a square either Red or Tehrir.

This common man is the reason behind a nation going democratic or autocratic, socialist or capitalist. He selects Lincoln and Nehru, he develops Napoleon or Hitler. He catalyzes a single party rule. He builds capitalist countries like America. He is the reason for a country favoring terrorists. He makes a nation a failed state. He catapults Gandhi to the peaks of a "Mahatma" and he pushes Gaddafi to the gutter.

Rise and awake – you mango man. Become aware of your latent power and become a “Hanuman” . Every common man alias mango man has an important role to play in building a paradise on the Earth.