Wood Apple

The other day, my wife Sreejita asked me to order some fruit, and I picked wood apple. The moment I did, a whole bunch of memories came back to me.

For most of my life I didn't even know it was called wood apple. Growing up, I called it bellada hannu. I always assumed it meant bella (jaggery) hannu (fruit), mostly because we always ate it with jaggery. When I finally checked, it turned out it's actually belada hannu (ಬೇಲದ ಹಣ್ಣು). Nothing to do with jaggery at all.

You could tell when it was ripe just from the smell. Strong and sweet, a little citrusy. We'd crack it open the way you'd crack a coconut. Inside, it's brown and looks a lot like tamarind, with the same kind of texture, and the seeds are small, like toor dal. We'd scoop it out with a spoon and mix it with jaggery.

There was a wood apple tree behind my grandmother's house. It was there long before I was born. Till I was about 10, I'd sit under it, collect the fruit that fell, and climb it. It was something I looked forward to every summer. Then one year it was cut down. I don't even remember why. I just remember being really sad about it.

I asked my brother if he remembered what we used to call the fruit. He couldn't. He remembered the smell and the taste, just not the name.

Funny thing is, he couldn't remember the name, and I'd been getting it wrong all along anyway. But both of us knew the smell.