Aam Ka Panna

Summers are here and so is the oppressive heat! I remember as a child my mother would scold us for running around and playing in the hot sun. My grandmother without fail would narrate stories of incidents from her childhood days. These tales revolved around devils, witches and evil spirits roaming about between 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. I still remember one story of a girl, a goatherd who was tending to her goats in the hot sunshine one afternoon in the forest. This girl heard someone calling to her but couldn’t see anyone. When she looked up she saw a woman sitting in the branches of a tamarind tree. The woman was beckoning to her to join her. That evening the goats reached home but without the girl and her favourite goat. Her parents were worried and set out to look for her. They called out to her but there was no reply. When they came to the spot they saw her favourite goat looking up at the tree and bleating piteously. With great trepidation they turned their heads upwards and saw the girl sitting on the highest branch all alone looking petrified.

Her older brother climbed up and carried her down to the waiting relatives. They questioned her again and again how and why did she climb up the tree. She couldn’t speak! Her fear had struck her dumb! When they got home and calmed her down she told them about this woman who had called her up the tree. The woman it seems gave her dung bread to eat and her feet were turned around, facing backwards!

Now tell me dear readers, would you have the courage to go playing out in the garden with huge neem trees after listening to stories such as these? My sister and I certainly didn’t have the guts! We would not even dare look out of the window into the garden at this time of the day. There was plenty to keep us occupied in rooms cooled by the bamboo and straw curtains sprinkled with fragrant khus or rose water. We read story books or watched our mother preparing bhelpuri, dahi vada, pani puri, aam ras or aam ka panna for tea time. I still remember with joy those afternoons... when mummy turned out those yummy dishes and delightful cooling drinks. Have you ever had a glass of the delicious aam ka panna? If not, then you must definitely remedy that as soon as possible.

Made from raw mangoes, this Indian drink is green or light yellow in colour. Its cooling properties help you to withstand the scorching heat in May and June. Mint leaves are added to enhance the flavour, green colour and resistance against seasonal illnesses. Aam ka paana is usually made using raw mangoes, powdered cumin, black salt, mint leaves and some sugar. This concoction quenches the thirst and prevents loss of body salts due to excessive sweating. It is mainly consumed in the northern parts of India and is rich source of vitamin B and C. According to Indian culture, it is a tonic which helps the body build up a resistance against tuberculosis, dysentery, cholera, and anaemia.

Did you know that this drink derives its name from the Sanskrit word ‘paaniya’ which means ‘something one drinks’? According to an article I read recently aam ka panna has been mentioned in ancient Ayurvedic texts as well as in certain places by the great Indian playwright Kalidasa. This raw mango drink also finds mention in Ain-e-Akbari and Baburnama, popular records of great Mughal emperors Akbar and Babur. So you see our aam ka panna isn’t something just concocted recently but it has its origin centuries ago as penned in archaic documents. Finding it difficult to believe that? Well, have a glass of some chilled aam ka panna and beat the heat this summer! And yes, don’t step out between 12 noon and 3:00 p.m... no... not that you’ll meet supernatural beings but to avoid the ill effects of the inclement summer heat!

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