1 . Is there a time when you are away from your hometown? When do you feel homesick the most? What do you often do to relieve your homesickness?

If the West has the apple, the East has the king of fruits: the enormously big mango. Called “aam” in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, this tropical fruit traces its origins to South Asia. Urdu and Hindi literature are filled with references to this fruit that once filled the kitchens and gardens of emperors.

Everyone is crazy about mangoes during the summer months in South Asia. City streets in India are lined with vendors (小贩) selling all varieties of mangoes. Young and old bargain for better prices, mangoes can be sent as gifts, restaurants have special mango menu items and the fruit becomes a gesture of goodwill between India and Pakistan, with the choicest varieties sent across the border to celebrate each country’s independence days.

South Asians all over the world expect the coming of mango season. South Asian stores receive shipments (运输的货物) of the fruit, though they are limited in quality and quantity. Each year, I taste my mangoes, though I’m saddened that popular varieties aren’t easily available in Vancouver.

Mango memories take me back to the city I was born in: Rourkela in the eastern part of India. In late March, just as the days would start to become hot, I remember mango trees blooming (开花) with their fresh fragrance in the breeze as we biked to school. Come April, the trees would start bearing fruit. I remember the thrill of sneaking out (潜行，偷偷溜出) to collect raw mangoes, climbing onto the roof of our houses and eating them with pink salt and powdered red chilies (红辣椒粉) alongside my best friend.

Mango stories from my childhood are endless. But this summer in Vancouver, tired from the pandemic (疫情), I can’t help but remember my sweet mango memories. I realize that I need to wander the streets of my home country, to feel the intense heat of the summer months and soak in the country of my birth.

Instead, I am in a semi-lockdown state tasting mangoes, enjoying those I can find in Canada but missing the Indian varieties. This year, the enormously big mango has become a symbol of the sense of loss that each one of us is feeling.