Padmashree Kaleem Ullah Khan : The Mango Man of India

Haji Kalimullah Khan in Malihabad (Lucknow, India) is also, very aptly, called ‘Mango Man’. He was recently awarded the Padma Shri for his rare technique of growing more than 300 varieties of mangoes of different shapes, sizes and hues on one tree!

Image courtesy :http://hajikaleemullahkhan.in

When Khan talks about the variety of mangoes grown by him in his orchards in the renowned 'dussehri' belt in Malihabad, it seems that he is fondly referring to his family members. Khan's prized tree is about 100 years old on which he started work in 1987 to develop the craft of growing different varieties on one tree. He has named the mangoes on this particular tree after his family members who also were mango growers.

Kaleemullah Khan's magic tree—it can bear over 300 varieties of mangoes—every fruit has a tiny tin label of identification on its pale green pedicle. The names are as fascinating as the mangoes themselves: the heart-shaped Asl-ul-Muqarrar, the bright red Husn-e-Ara, the bitter gourd-like Karela, Kelwachampa, Sharbati Bagrain, Pukhraj, Walajah Pasand, Khas-ul-Khas, Makkhan, Shyam Sunder, Prince, Himsagar...they are all there. In all their splendour. But try pinning a label on the man behind the tree. It's tough. In Malihabad's mango country, where the luscious fruit seems to grow on virtually everything that resembles a tree, 57-year-old Kaleemullah Khan is King. Quite clearly, he is not your average mango-grower. What is he, then? A scientist of sorts? Most certainly. Or horticulture's equivalent of a collage artist? That, too. Or simply a sorcerer whose nature-aided legerdemain defies all explanation? Undoubtedly. The tree may not be the sum total of his life's work—there's more to the short, stocky, bearded man than a 'freak' achievement—but it certainly is his chosen mission. "I want to live on through this tree after my death," he says matter-of-factly. "It's not a mere tree. It's a full-blown orchard, a veritable laboratory that can be of immense use to researchers."

No wonder the tree has been put together with great care. "I am very finicky about what I put up there," says Kaleemullah. So, the Alphonsos have come all the way from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, the Langras from Bihar, the Himsagars from West Bengal and the Bangan-pallis from Andhra Pradesh. He knows all eyes are on the tree. Hence the constant striving for perfection. "I am angootha-thek (illiterate)," he says, "but I do have something to contribute."

The rich crop from Abdullah Nursery, Kaleemullah's 14-acre orchard just off the Malihabad railway station, is packed in wooden boxes every season and sent to all corners of India. A sizeable percentage of his orchard's produce carries Malihabad's famed aroma as far as the Gulf countries. But that, he says, is only his business. Kaleemullah's passion, it is obvious, is the tree that grows in a smaller four-acre nursery across the rail tracks. "It is 75 years old, but it looks as fresh as a 10-year-old plant," says Kaleemullah with the pride of a mother waxing eloquent about the virtues of her favourite child.

source:http://hajikaleemullahkhan.in