Some of us do not wait for mangoes to ripen. I actually do not remember learning to love raw mangoes. I just remember always loving them. Seeing kids today "shooting" mangoes took me back to my childhood when we lived for raw mangoes. Our worth was determined by how many raw mangoes one could eat. Ability to climb a tree, and climb really high earned you great respect. We ate raw mangoes with salt, and when we had access, we added black pepper, and felt very grown for handling that sharp sourness.
Even as adults, that craving hasn't left me. I now sometimes add chilli to the salt. As an adult, I have more reasoning (I hope), more ideas, more words, but my choice of mango stays the same.
It makes me wonder: why on earth do we prefer raw mangoes over ripe ones? Why do we reach for what is still developing or no yet fully formed? Why not wait for it to ripen into something softer and sweeter? Is it impatience? Is it curiosity? Is it the intensity of that tart experience?
A raw mango has a sharp, tart and somewhat uncomfortable taste. A ripe mango is sweet and almost predictable. Both are good. Sometimes you probably want the bite, and other times you want something strong and comfortable.
And maybe that is how we move through life.
Sometimes we wait for things to ripen. We will wait for a job to feel stable, a relationship to feel ready, an idea to feel perfect, an opportunity to feel certain. Other times, we bite into what is available now, even if it is unfinished or imperfect. Both choices are part of living. Both teach us about timing and courage, because life is full of green raw mangoes, and also full of yellow ripe ones. Sometimes you wait for the sweetness of the ripe mango, and sometimes you take the tart mango and it is exactly what you need.
There is a saying that life is too short to buy green bananas. That is true, yes. But maybe, life is also too short not to taste the mango while it is still raw, still sharp and still there. Life, like a mango tree in season, offers fruits at different stages and we must decide whether we taste the tart now or the sweet later.
I have no answer for why I choose a raw mango, but I know that I do, and will keep doing it. From where my feet are, under a mango tree, maybe wisdom is knowing when to wait for sweetness and when to choose the tart bite.
I'm not sold on the concept of raw mangoes - never was. To me it always felt like getting a raw deal, with the pun very intended. My truth has always been in the middle of the road. Not raw, not too ripe. And I guess that's unconsciously how I live this story called life.
ReplyDeleteI don't quit jobs too soon, but neither do I hang around to receive the long service award. I don't get too excited about things, but neither am indifferent to them. Has this middle of the road stance affected my relationships? Go figure😜
Not raw, not too ripe. I like! How soon is too soon? How long is too long? Life, like a mango tree in season, offers fruits at different stages... Thank you for sharing.
DeleteI find raw mangoes quite bitter, with salt they are a little more tolerable. They are an acquired taste, but for me that hasn't worked. my question is why not just wait for them to ripen. I think the bitterness is clear sign that they just aren't ready for consumption yet. That's generally order God set, certain things are best consumed at the right time - maturity.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies for just about any realm of life you can think of life - true reward lies ahead, Are there exceptions to the rule, certainty yes, as we see you delighted yourself in raw mangoes, which experience probably made your childhood a colourful one.
Moral of the story, bitterness is sometimes a sign that you are midway through the process, but the true sweetness is in the patience.
Zizi, I like how you have framed it. It is thoughtful and very kind to the mango. You are right when you say bitterness can be a signal of "not yet" and patience truly rewards us in many areas of life. Waiting for the mango to ripen is wise and rewarding, but I think raw mangoes sit in that exception zone that you mention where readiness is not about time but about taste, context, etc. For the raw mango lovers, sourness is the point. So maybe it not so much about rushing the process but about recognising that some stages (even the bitter ones) have their season and meaning. Think about matooke.. It shows us that maturity is not only about ripeness but about knowing what stage serves you best. Sometimes sweetness comes from waiting. Other times, it comes from knowing exactly what you are biting into. Thank you for your reflection and adding another layer to this.
DeleteThis is a beautifully written article, rich in thought and brilliance. It makes me envision the Three-Box Strategy (Horizon thinking).
ReplyDeleteThe raw-vs-ripe mango metaphor mirrors the Three-Box Strategy in a quietly powerful way.
Ripe mangoes feel like Box 1—the present, optimized, familiar, predictable. They are safe, sweet, and proven. Raw mangoes, on the other hand, live in Box 3—the future, the not-yet-ready, the ideas and opportunities that are still sharp, risky, and uncomfortable but full of possibility.
Most of us are taught to wait for ripeness, wait until things are certain, polished, approved. But strategy teaches us that if we only consume ripe fruit, we starve the future. Growth often requires biting into what is still forming learning to tolerate the sourness, the ambiguity, the unrefined edges.
And then there is Box 2, the transition space, the moment when the mango is neither fully raw nor fully ripe. That is where judgment, timing, and wisdom live. It’s where we decide what to improve, what to let go of, and what to taste early.
Your reflection suggests that wisdom isn’t choosing raw over ripe, or patience over impatience, it’s knowing when to eat which mango. That is exactly the strategist’s task, to manage today’s sweetness while developing the appetite for tomorrow’s sharpness.
Under that mango tree, this feels less like longing and more like a lesson in leadership.
I need to read this Three Box Strategy. But the "transition space" where it is neither raw nor fully ripe like George likes in the comment above is a big take away for me. Box 1 is easy(ish). But what does it take to operate in Box 3 in addition to courage? And how do you discern what judgement and wisdom to apply in that "in-between space. Thank you for your thoughts
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