Sunday Haat, the initiative of the ‘Mango tree village haat,’ in cooperation with the Centre of Floriculture and Agribusiness Management (COFAM) at the North Bengal University, has this time around chosen one more interesting fruit to celebrate the ‘season of national fruit’ that the initiative is marking presently.
The organisers of the unique ‘Haat’ (village market), chose none other than the king of fruits, as they celebrated the ‘Mango Festival’ on 22 and 23 June.
Sunday Haat is a platform that helps farmers showcase and sell their organic produce. It is also a place where people can showcase their handicraft, handloom, rural travel and many more.
“We can find mango everywhere during the period of June July. I believe the summer season can be loved for mangoes, and that is why we chose to dedicate two days for the ‘mango’ as we marked the festival,” said Sanjukta Bose, one of the organisers of the Haat.
“We have here several varieties of mangoes like Amrapali from Raiganj and Alphonso from various places. In the mango dishes, starting from the mango pudding, we have the mango sandesh, mango doi (curd), mango shake, mango cake and much more ready to eat dishes made from the fruit,” she added
At the ‘Haat,’ people belonging to different communities were seen selling their produce, be it vegetables or handicraft. A ‘Baul’ couple from Bolpur singing ‘Baul’ songs lent the festival a unique and beautiful rustic colour.
Abhaya Bose, another organiser of the ‘Sunday Haat’ said, “All this is mostly to encourage people who still believe in organic food. There still are people who love to have organic food. We have to go back to our roots, to get rid of the various kinds of diseases plaguing us. To keep illnesses at bay, we have to have good food in a good way. We, the organisers of the ‘Haat’, have been heartily trying to bring those good organic fruits, vegetables to the people of our town.”
Ranjana Maiti, a visitor at the ‘Mango Festival’, said this was her second visit to the ‘haat.’
“I was here last week to see what this place was all about, and it indeed showed me a new way towards a healthy life. I believe a healthy body totally depends on the things you are eating. At a time when all of us are eating hybrid and adulterant products, it is a very good initiative by ‘Sunday Haat’ to give people in the town the opportunity to taste pure organic products,” said Mrs Maiti.