What the Rains Bring

The ‘ keora’ fruit is a gift of the rains in Sundarban. I find it immensely popular in forest – adjoining Sundarban in the two Parganas as well as all places which carry the legacy of Sundarbani or Aabaadi culture, food and history.

 

Its characteristics and medicinal values have been discussed often. During my stints at the forest, I have been amazed by the friendship of the deer and the monkey centred around this tree. The leaves and fruits are a favourite of the deer, and they can be seen being helped by the monkeys. Deer can be seen around this tree as well as by the water in embankments where the fruits have been washed to by the waters and the wind.

 

Keora consumption supposedly lends the slightly pungent hint to deer flesh, as corroborated by old timers, before deer meat became illegal.

The keora also contributes to a proverb of the forest ‘Je kheyechhe keorar jhol, se chherechhe maayer kol’ which roughly translates as any person who’s had a taste of this fruit (and the forest) is bound to return here, time and again. Indeed, many will vouch for the profundity and depth of this saying.

In picture – Keora picking in the forest, its packets for sale, and different stages of preparation of a forest delicacy called Keora Chingri, one of the many special culinary journeys around this fruit in and around Sundarban.