Heartbeatgoa.memories -A fruity evolution By Marc De Souza (Herald 8th May,2008)

During my pre-teen years in the rural hub of my Cunchelim village in Bardez, life was quite routine, But it was never dull. If you only took the time to open your eyes wide and see, you would behold nature at its best. If you cared to just walk up the rolling hills in the cool of the evening, not only would you get the requisite exercise which kept you fit, but you were gifted with pure air and beautiful scenes of a budding tree, blooming plants and the approaching sunset painting an artist’s sky. When the cashew ripened on the trees. we would walk up the hills, feeling the hardness of the pebbles and the occasional sharpness of cut grass under your bare feet, and enjoy the red or yellow enticing, juicy, sun-kissed cashew apples, begging to be plucked. Oneof us would gently knock on a branch a couple of times with a stick, releasing one or more cashews which were expertly caught by the others. Twisting off the kidney-shaped gray nut, we would suck into the fruit, relishing its juice and pungent fibrous pulp. Another juicy evening…That was fun!