Walking on a sine wave

Growing up in India, spring started with green mangoes appearing on mango trees. Before you knew it, every home would have a few jars of raw mango pickle fermenting on their balcony or terrace. We would eagerly await that first piece of mango pickle with ajwain parantha and I can never forget that taste. I never learnt how to make Indian pickle even though my mom was an expert and could pickle literally any vegetable under the sun. So when I saw amiyas ( green baby mangoes) at the Indian store today, I bought a few pounds and called my mother on my way back home. She came over within an hour and I finally learnt her secret recipe to make aam ka achaar (Mango pickle) checking off an item from my bucket list.

The pickle is now fermenting in my backyard and I spy my kids checking it time and again eager to get that first taste… just like I did in my childhood. We now have a shared childhood memory despite growing up on different continents.