When Ants Made Mangoes Fall

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

It’s not any cooked food for me—it’s mangoes.

Whenever I eat a mango, I’m instantly transported to my childhood. We had a huge property filled with many varieties of mango trees. As very small kids, we used to run to those giant trees the moment the breeze picked up, hoping to find ripe mangoes that had fallen to the ground. The trees were so huge, and the shade they cast felt like a whole world of its own. Neighborhood kids and childhood playmates would be at our place almost every day, playing games and dashing off to pick up fruits mid-play whenever we heard the soft thud of a mango dropping.

We had this funny little belief back then—that if we buried weaver ants under a mango tree, it would make the tree drop ripe mangoes. So we’d hunt for ants and “plant” them like seeds under the trees, convinced we were helping nature along. Of course, the mangoes probably fell because of the breeze, birds, or squirrels, but our tiny hearts believed in the power of the ants.

As we grew older and a little braver, we started climbing the smaller trees to pluck raw mangoes. We’d eat them with salt, our hands sticky and lips tingling from the sourness. And when the mangoes began to ripen, we’d enjoy their sweetness with complete, carefree joy.

Those days were pure magic. Mangoes weren’t just fruits—they were part of our play, our beliefs, our bonds with friends. Now, every time I taste a mango—especially the local varieties—it brings back that warm flood of nostalgia, the simplicity of those days, and the happiness of a childhood spent under mango-laden trees.