Nature gives us a variety of fruits and flowers. The fruits are not only delicious but nutritious. Have you tasted a papaya? Papaya has its origin in Mexico. It is said that this fruit spread to all parts of the world from there.
Papaya fruit is very sweet.
The Portuguese first introduced this fruit in India, some 400 years ago in Kerala. There is a place called Kappakaya in Kerala which means, `brought by ship’. Three types of papaya are grown in India. One is the South American variety. The second is the type which grows on altitudes of about 600 meters and the third is the Indian variety.
Papaya is good for health because it has the highest amount of vitamin A and C, proteins, carbohydrates, calcium, iron and mineral salts. Papaya also contains citric acid, tartaric acid and Gallic acid. Because the papaya is rich in vitamin C, it helps in bone formation and helps to correct bone deformities. An important element found in papaya helps in digestion. It also helps to tone up the skin.
Three hundreds years ago, our forefathers used the papaya to cure sores, eczema and bruises. Villagers found seeds of this fruit most useful for scorpion bites. They ground the seeds to paste and applied it on the bitten area. Thus, besides being tasty and nutritious, papaya has also great medicinal value.
So, the papaya tree is very useful to us.
The guests
Kashinath lived in a little village. He was poor but always helped his neighbors with what little he had. Any person who visited the town could also visit Kashinath’s house. His wife Gowri was fed up. She had to cook for them event at odd times.
One day Gowri saw four men walking towards her house. She was tired. Visitors meant coking again. As she was about to close door she saw the mortar and pestle. An idea struck her. She opened the door for the visitors. When they entered the house they were shocked. The mortar and pestle were arranged as if to be worshipped Bondhu could not bear the curiosity and asked, `who worships them?’
Gowri pretended to be surprised. `My dear husband of course!’ she said. `He prays to the deity everyday.’ She secretly told them that the deity demanded blood. Kashinath would beat them on their heads to get the blood. She would have to clear the house to get rid of the blood stains so she often told him, `don’t do it, do not do it,’ but he never listened to her.
Kashinath entered the house to see the puzzled men running away. His wife told him, `they wanted the mortar and pestle,’ `O! You foolish woman! Why did you not you give it?’ he picked up the pestle and ran out calling them `come, come take pestle.’
The men ran faster, afraid that e would beat them. Poor Kashinath never knew and will never know why the men were so frightened. `Why had they run away!’ he wondered.