Ashok Choudhry at his mango orchard in Bhagalpur on Thursday. Since 2007, Bihar has been gifting mangoes from his nursery, earning him the title of ‘Mango Man’. Picture by Amit Kumar

(Bhagalpur), May 30: These are no ordinary mangoes. Track their movement and you could unravel which way the wind is blowing in Bihar.

After a bumper yield, the Bihar administration is readying to send Zardalu mangoes to chief minister Nitish Kumar’s important friends in New Delhi. District agriculture officer Dinesh Singh said packing of these mangoes from “Mango Man” Ashok Choudhry’s nursery would be over by June 1 and next day the consignments would be sent to New Delhi by train with messengers. Some 600 packets are being despatched to New Delhi.

Sometime soon after June 2, the President of India, the Prime Minister, top dignitaries, foreign embassies and all those who matter to Nitish can expect a packet each of 24 delicious mangoes (5 to 6 kg) grown in Ashok Choudhry’s Madhuvan nursery. Another 250 would be sent to VIPs in Patna.

But for a minor aberration last year, when because of a bad produce no VIP mango gifts were sent from Bhagalpur to New Delhi, Choudhry and his nursery have been playing an important role ever since the system of gifting mangoes began in 2007. It’s not for nothing that he is popular as Mango Man now.

Choudhry took up mango cultivation after quitting his profession as a lawyer and schoolteacher.

He began on his two-and-a-half acres of land at Maheshy in Sultanganj area. Today, his nursery is spread over 10 acres of land.

The famed Zardalu apart, he grows many other high breed varieties, including a single tree which sports 72 varieties of mangoes like Arvin, Sensation, Verma-C along with Lal Mohon, Keshar, Surya, Arunima and Arun in pink, violet, red, yellow and reddish yellow colours.

The soil of Maheshy and the weather conditions are most favourable for Zardalu, Choudhry said.

According to him the Zardalu mango, with its unique essence, can be easily digested. Not to forget its sweetness, which Choudhry claims even a diabetic can risk tasting. No debate on the taste here, but the diabetic bit is best taken with a pinch of salt.