With its sunset coloured skin and sweet flesh, the mango is at its prime between the months of June and August. Amulya Malladi’s second novel, The Mango Season, tells the story of Priya Rao, a
(Non-resident Indian) who could care less about the mango’s ripeness or attractive prices. Priya is simply visiting her homeland for the summer, after seven long years in America.

A vacation from traditional diasporic literature, Malladi explores the struggle Priya faces when dealing with culture shock in her own country. Malladi skillfully intertwines the process of making mango pickle (an annual tradition hosted by Priya’s maternal grandparents) with what Malladi describes as “the pickle,” Priya finds herself in when she realizes she must tell her family about her American fiancé, Nick.

”This was the first novel I wrote, and I had just gotten married when I was talking to a friend of mine who had also just gotten married. She married someone from a different caste, and their wedding was a complete circus, with lots of yelling,” says Malladi on a telephone interview from her home in Denmark
“So I thought it would be interesting to write a story about it,
” she adds.

Priya, an unconventionally opinionated Indian girl, takes on her traditional Brahmin family who are on the hunt for a nice Indian boy for her to marry. In fact, Malladi’s own life seems to parallel the
story of Priya. Both went to school in the United States and married
non-Indians. However, Malladi says her experiences were not
like Priya’s.

“My telling my parents about my husband was not a catastrophe. There was not fear on my part that they would disown me, and besides, I have a small family compared to Priya’s large family,” she says.

“I based this story on a family I knew that included a spinster woman- who was slightly plump and a discarded son who married from a different caste,” Malladi says

In addition to the diverse spectrum of characters, Indian lifestyle is masterfully weaved into the story.

From the bustling fruit bazaars, to the local chaat place, Malladi gives the reader a ticket to a sweltering summer in New Delhi, India. The author’s lively minutiae, whether in conversation between characters or the taste of ladoos after they’ve been “sizzling in ghee,”
provide texture to the senses.

Better than a Bollywood film, the drama in Priya’s family keeps the reader entertained and rooting for Priya to spill her secret. Also, as the reader sinks deeper into the plot, the personalities of Priya’s family members are bound to remind readers of their own relatives.
Throughout the novel, Priya and her relatives function like a pressure cooker. They each have their distinct flavours that they have added to the story but when the temperature gets too heated in the kitchen - tempers flare. The relationship between Priya and her Thata (grandfather) beautifully illustrates this point. One minute they are sitting under pomegranate trees indulging on fruit and exchanging kind words. And the next, they’re verbally stinging each other’s value systems and beliefs, especially when the subject is marriage.
When reading this book, it may appear that Malladi is purporting the typical stereotypes of South Asians being backwards and unable to change. But by introducing characters such as Priya’s younger brother Nate, and her open-minded father (who she calls Nanna), you begin to see Indians as multi-dimensional characters that are in tune with Western culture and ideology.

Despite the melodramatic bickering from the elders, Priya gets a chance to help empower her aging Aunt Sowmya, to gain independence instead of succumbing pressures of marrying the first person who proposes. She even inspires her Uncle Anand, to stick up for his wife who is the black sheep of the family because she is not a Telugu Brahmin like the rest of Priya’s family.
Best of all, this book is sprinkled with recipes of Avakai (South Asian mango pickle), Perugannam (Curd Rice), Rava Ladoo (a popular Indian dessert), Pappu (lentils with mango), and Avial (a South Asian vegetable curry). Malladi felt it was important to make food a main theme of this book.

“Food is a big part of our culture. Whenever we’re visiting family or relatives, we usually eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together. Most of the time is spent in the kitchen. Whenever we visit my mother, the first thing she will ask is, ‘Are you hungry?’ I would say we are a culture preoccupied with food,” says Malladi, also an avid cook.
The Mango Season enlightens the reader on the dynamics of Indian family life, and that century-old Indian traditions like making mango pickle are far from mundane. In fact, they have the ability to magically strengthen the bonds of South Asian families.

This book is a perfect read for a lazy summer afternoon. Snack on a ripe, juicy mango and let Malladi transport you across oceans to India, a place where every NRI (Non-Resident Indian) like Priya, occasionally longs to be.

Visit www.amulyamalladi.com for more information on other books by Malladi including, A Breath of Fresh Air, Serving Crazy with Curry and Song of the Cuckoo Bird.