A huge crowd had gathered at Gandhi Park in the city on Sunday evening eagerly waiting for the event to start. Two kilograms of mangoes were put in front of each of the participants and a time limit of two minutes was set. With the blow of a whistle the competition began.
In Kerala mangoes are not just a fruit that becomes abundant during the summer, it has an inextricable link to the State’s culture and tradition, and the 24th Calicut Mango Festival organised by the Calicut Agri-Horticultural Society put across this idea.
The first section of the competition came to a stop when Vijaya Rajagopal had her fifth mango in the last moment of the second minute winning the competition consecutively for the fifth time while Faizal K.P. bagged first prize in the men’s section of the event.
It seems the climate change is having an adverse effect on these delicious fruits. Participants had the opinion that the mangoes provided for the competition were not all ripe.
