Well-known mango grower Haji Kalimullah has developed a new variety of mango that is a cross between the “Gudshah” and “Chausa” varieties.
The tree of this variety of mango stands tall at 16 feet in height but the quality and the taste of the fruit is unparalleled, he says.
“This is just one tree in my orchard that has over 300 varieties among the 25,000 mango trees and we have decided to send the first lot of mangoes from the tree to Sachin Tendulkar this year. We will not be selling even a single fruit in the market this time,” says Haji Kalimullah, who is a name to reckon with in the Malihabad mango belt in central UP.
The “Sachin” mango tree was developed three years ago but this year the tree is yielding fruit.
Incidentally, this is the first time that a mango has been named after a cricketer. “Normally, we give traditional names like Anarkali and Gulbadan to the varieties, but Sachin Tendulkar has made history in cricket and deserves the highest honours. Therefore we decided to name this variety after him,” says Haji Kalimullah, but refuses to divulge the price of the “Sachin” variety. “Such things are priceless, you know,” he adds.
Amita Verma