'In The Heat Of Punjab' by Abida Akram

She licked the marshmallow soft skin on the inside of her elbow up to her left palm.
Long continuous strokes. Her tongue golden. Loud sucking noises as she cleaned
each finger and thumb. Her nose filled with the perfume of this delicious nectar. Her
chin, cheeks, mouth stained and sticky with yellow juice, the fine hairs there
clumping into tiny sweet spikes. They could keep their large oranges and the heavy
watermelons on the farm. This was her favourite. It was the season and now there
was a glut and the ritual began.

Please follow my instructions to get the best from this ritual. There is a magical hour
when you should start, which is the cooling evening before sundown. If you start in
the heat of the afternoon, you will soon be covered by flies feasting on you.

So, first massage it, roll it between the two palms, even press it with your thumbs,
then when squidgy, nip a tiny hole at the top in the skin with your front teeth. Proceed
to slurp up the pulp and juice through the hole. Bliss.

Then comes the messy part. Tear the hole bigger, turn the skin inside out, put the big
flattish slippery stone to one side, suck the nectar left on the inside skin. Then suck
the pulp off the fibrous stone until there is nothing left but the pale white cover on the
stone. Throw the crumpled soft skin onto one pile and the stone onto another.

Now sticky and golden, juice running down your arms you can either clean yourself
up or simply reach into the basket for the next ripe mango.