The gooler (cluster fig) tree in our colony continues to drop ripe fruits on the pavements with few bothering to pick them up. Nobody eats goolers now, except for some birds, and so they are unmindful trodden down, making the pathways slippery, with elderly people at risk of falling down and injuring themselves.

There was a time, however, when goolers were eaten with relish. One remembers that an old woman used to come in the afternoon with a basketful of them. For two paise you could buy more than a handful, but to eat them was a problem. There are worms inside the fruit, which have to take Nout before you put it in your mouth.

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Grannies were the ones who used to do this for the children.  The new generation is not aware that what they crush underfoot every day is actually a sweet, nourishing fruit.

But then today’s grannies too are ignorant of the deworming process, though a horticulturist said it was actually fungus and not worms that infested the fruit as a defence mechanism against predators.