Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India, page 25
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following for all their help in putting this book together:
Anupjija, Krishna, Inder Bhabi and Ajay, Santoshjiji, Suresh, Madhu, Bimla, Lovy, Shashi, Om, Brijdada, Bhaiyyadada, Maya and Siddhartha, Lalit, Kamal, Ruth Jhabwala, Anita Desai, Amitav Ghosh, and Viru and Juji Dayal.
I would also like to offer thanks to The New Yorker, Gourmet magazine, the Financial Times, and Ms. magazine, from which some lines, thoughts, and words have been taken.
Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Madhur Jaffrey
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada
Limited, Toronto. Originally published in Great Britain by Ebury Publishing, an
imprint of The Random House Group Ltd., London, in 2005.
Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Climbing the mango trees: a memoir of a childhood in India / by Madhur Jaffrey.
—1st American ed.
p. cm.
1. Jaffrey, Madhur—Childhood and youth. 2. Cooks—India—Biography.
3. Cooks—United States—Biography. 4. Women cooks—India—Biography.
5. Cookery, Indic. 6. India—History—British occupation, 1765-1947.I. Title.
TX649.J34.A3 2006
641.5092—dc22
[B] 2006045255
eISBN: 978-0-307-51769-2
www.vintagebooks.com
v3.0
Table of Contents
My Family Tree
Prologue Sweet as Honey? · Winter in Delhi: The Season of Weddings · The Caterer as Magician · Lessons in Taste
Delhi—Old and New · Sir Edwin Lutyens and the House That Never Was · Grandfather, “Babaji” · Number 7 · The Lady in White · The Kite
Summer Lunch · The Red Book · The Story of My Ancestors · Muslim Influence
British Rule · The Record-Keeper · Mutiny of 1857 · The Reward
The Freedom of Kanpur · My Mother and Father · A Fairy-Tale Marriage · A Desire to Excel
Choosing a School · A Milky Nation: The Milk Beauty Secret and Milk for Breakfast · Our Morning Rituals · The Magic Garden
Summer Holiday · Baby Sister · Starting School and Learning English · The Toffee Man · The Quest for Barley Sugar · My Perfect Sisters
Fasting for My Father · Lighting Up for Diwali · An Opulent Dining Room · Chewing the Bones · Bookworms · A Role Model
My Caring, Reticent Sister · The Useful Club · The Death of a Cousin
Divided Loyalties · Preparing for War · Film Buffs · The Nazi Connection · Wolfie and the Gray Horse · The End of the Kanpur Idyll
Spellbinding Shibbudada · Two Tragic Marriages · Sadness and a Conspiracy of Silence
My Gang · Fishing, Shooting, and Swimming · The Watermelon Fields · Ear-Piercing Antiseptic
The Drawing Room · Winter Evenings: Family, Friends, Lemonade, Nuts, and Pakor s · Dining at the Long Tables
Family Picnics in Delhi · The Art of Getting Thirty People into Two Cars · Cinema Trips · Story Time
Summer Holidays in the Hills · The Great Exodus · Grandmother's Magic Potion · Mountain Picnics · The Taste of Ecstasy
A New School · Classmates in Burqas · Hindi or Urdu: A Dreadful Choice · A Lethally Sharp Pencil
Shibbudada's Favorites · Teatime Tension · A Dream House in Daurala · The Sugarcane Fields · Sweets Galore in the Sugar Factory
Visiting the Old City · The Lane of Fried Breads · Monsoon Mushrooms
Learning to Swim and Dance · A Haven for Musicians · Temple Dancers and Tap-Dancers · Dressing as Milkmaids · An Unhappy Teenager · The Drama of the Monsoons · Shibbudada's Quiet Cruelty · The Spring Festival of Colors
Chicken Pox · Soup-Toast and Sewing · A Fancy-Dress Party
Learning to Fly · School Days in Summer · Mrs. McKelvie · Discovering Drama · Fearless Amina · Art Appreciation
The Sisters Return · A Taste of the Future · Mother's Shawls · Kamal's Illness
The Muslim Twins · Sudha's Vegetarian Delights · Punjabi Promila · Our Shared Lunchtime Feasts · Contacting the Spirit World · The Icy Hands of Partition · Mahatma Gandhi · Spinning for India · Independence Day and the Bloody Aftermath
Punjabi Influences · Food with New Attitude · Bazaar and Tandoori Foods · A Taste of Spam · Sunday Lunchtimes
The Looming Banyan Tree · New School Friends and Fresh Tastes · Learning to Love Hindi · Two Types of Indians · Hated Cookery Lessons · Divine Potatoes
Exam Season · Brain Food · The Honey-Seller · Sweetening the Mouth
First Jobs and First Loves · Ballroom Dancing · Dressing for the Dinner Dance
Future Planning · The Radio Station · The Last Large Picnic · Wildflower Hall and an Encounter with the Police
Kamal's Journey · Shibbudada Interferes Again · Cookery Exam
A Joint Family in New York · Grandfather's Decline · A Riverside Cremation
Kamal's Return · A Gift of Coca-Cola · Sailing to a New Life · Mingling the Flavors of the Past and the Future
Family Recipes
Acknowledgments
Madhur Jaffrey, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India
