Journey of a Jackfruit

May 2, 2015

All eyes were set on a huge jackfruit besides the luggage in the trolley I was pushing around in the lounge near the immigration counter in Mangalore International Airport. As I was talking to the airport staff assisting me with my luggage, a sense of frustration, urgency and desperation was conspicuous on my face. As a few of the airport staff grinned looking at the mammoth fruit carried around without a packaging, my assistants were all busy finding ways to help me reach Bahrain without leaving the jackfruit behind!

The background: The maximum weight allowed to an international passenger with Air India Express is 20 kg of luggage and 7 kg of handbag. Although my hand bag did not weigh much, the weight of my luggage that included a huge bag and a carton, crossed 24 kg. The assistant suggested that I transfer the clothes from the cargo bag to my hand bag. But I did not see that a viable option as the weight of the clothes was not much. The assistant came up with another seemingly brilliant idea that I use the cargo bag itself as handbag as my handbag could be possibly considered as laptop case. The idea was soon found to be flawed as the size of the cargo bag was found to be huge and it would not fit into the cabin of the flight. Even as we were trying out different possible options, the time was running out.

I realized that the real culprit was the jackfruit hiding in the carton and asked the assistant to unwrap the carton and take ‘him’ out. When we weighed, the jackfruit alone weighed 4 kg! ‘Gifting the jackfruit, apart from the tips to the assistant is the last resort’ I thought.

By now the sight of jackfruit had caught the attention of not only co-passengers, but also other luggage assistants who came up with the ideas to help me out. The fruit had slightly ripened and my mother-in-law, out of affection, had forcefully stuffed it inside the cartoon. I was torn into two minds and overwhelmed by Hamlet’s oscillation of ‘To be or Not to be’.

Amidst this, a lady standing in the queue for luggage clearance smiled at me casting her gaze at the fruit. ‘If you want, you can take it’, I suggested. ‘I would have taken it, had you told me a while ago. Now I have already added a friend’s luggage’.

Amidst this chat, came a quick suggestion from my assistant who said ‘why don’t you carry the jackfruit itself in your hand luggage?’ ‘Wow what an idea!’, I thought. Even before my assistant could get me a plastic bag to wrap the fruit, the lady to whom I had spoken to offered me one. Soon I rushed to the immigration counter to ensure that I was allowed to carry it in my hand bag. ‘I have a fruit in my hand bag. Am I permitted to carry it?’, I asked them. ‘I know it is a jackfruit! and you may go ahead by all means’, the immigration officer replied.

I heaved a sigh of relief! ‘Let’s eat the fruit in the plane’, the lady who offered me the bag, cut the joke.

As the jackfruit reached Bahrain airport after nearly 8 hours of journey via Kuwait, it had almost well ripened. As I shared the fruit with my friends and relatives, I felt it was worth the pain and fun!

(It’s a narrative of a hilarious incident intended to evoke a hearty laughter.)

 

Anthony D'Souza Archives:

 

 

By Anthony D'Souza, Madanthyar / Bahrain
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Comment on this article

  • Roma Dsa, Mangalore/Bangalore

    Sun, May 10 2015

    When I was a Kid in Mumbai we would be waiting for our relatives to come from Goa with a jack fruit They had a holiday in Mumbai for gift of jack fruit

  • Dinesh Correa, Sharjah

    Sat, May 09 2015

    NOT FOR PUBLICATION:
    "a huge jackfruit besides the luggage"

    Did you mean "a huge jackfruit beside the luggage"?

  • Faheem Jawaid, Hanamkonda - Telangana

    Tue, May 05 2015

    Very funny. Made a wonderful read Anthony. Keep sharing such experiences.

  • yogesh, mumbai

    Tue, May 05 2015

    A 4 kg can't be tree-grown jackfruit be ripened kadgi. U could better plucked the gharos and put in plastic cover and carried as food item. Anyway funny reading

  • saquib, byndoor/dammam

    Mon, May 04 2015

    feeling very nostalgic

  • Naveen Walter Mendonca, Bahrain/ Pamboor

    Sun, May 03 2015

    Now it is jack fruit luggage.. After some days Jack fruit patholi luggage.Anthony,we were also with you in the same flight.There was a nice smell in the flight. Nice article Anthony...

  • Wilma, Udupi

    Sun, May 03 2015

    I remembered few years back similar experience about jack fruit.My luggage was 5 kg extra and the staff was emotional when I told him it was given by my mom.So he advised me next time open and take only pacchir .Since then I am carrying same way.

  • jaya dsouza, bantwal/kuwait

    Sun, May 03 2015

    Good Article ! I usually don't comment on anything here. But JACKFRUIT !!! I can't keep myself away from it. I have an experience of same thing a couple of times. Instead of carrying "dukra maas " I carry Jackfruit(the smallest possible)and its worth it. (There are hundreds of stories associated with this topic... thanks to Mr. Anthony.

  • Evans Christopher Sumitra, Udupi, Dubai, New York, USA.

    Sun, May 03 2015

    I thank Mr. Anthony D"Souza for that unique and adventurous article on that Jackfruit which is one of my favorite fruits. We don't get fresh ones over here except in some stores during summer time but they are not that good. But we relish the canned ones which comes from Thailand.

  • Evans Christopher Sumitra, Udupi, Dubai, New York, USA.

    Sun, May 03 2015

    A very funny incident. Thank God you, your relatives and friends enjoyed eating the most tastiest JACKFRUIT, after all the hassles, you and the jackfruit went through. Unfortunately, we cannot bring any fruits, vegetables, plants or any food stuff to New York. If found they will be thrown into the garbage.

  • Jaimini P.B., Manipal,Sharjah

    Sat, May 02 2015

    Dear Anthony...You felt it was worth the pain ..Yesssss...I agree..

    Importance of Jackfruit

    1. High in Fiber content
    2. No Fats/ high energy
    3. Rich in Vitamin & Minerals
    4. Maintains Blood Pressure
    5. Improves Digestion
    6. Good for Piles
    7. Good for Eye
    8. Good for Skin
    9. Good for Asthma patient
    10 Good for Bones.

    Congrats Mr.Anthony..You did the right thing..JAI JACKFRUIT

  • Rodrigues Arwin , Madanthyar

    Sat, May 02 2015

    Dear Antony,
    I had an enormous amount of fun reading your write-up.
    "TO BE OR NOT TO BE" did make me snigger.
    I thank God for nothing such incidents have happened in my life while flying ✈ around the globe at any airport.
    Keep flourishing.
    God bless you.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore, Lucknow

    Sat, May 02 2015

    It was a short read, quite a hilarious read, and very interesting read - a sweet read. Wish I were there to share the taste of your Jackfruit in Bahrain, for here in Lucknow I do not get to eat them and it’s a long time since I hit my hometown. I liked the story title for it is an Alliteration- Journey of a Jackfruit’- hence stepped into the story and happy to hit up against Shakespeare’s “To be or not to be” – that is the question – a nice iambic pentameter.
    No sweet dish after lunch a while ago but thanks to your story it acted it instead.


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