Peter mangoes and every other breed of mangoes available here. I was going about my normal daily research trying to be an addition to the ecosystem when I saw the "plant a tree today foundation (PATT foundation)" and I couldn't help but remember what happened during my junior year in school.
My school had some fruit trees around ( mango trees, orange trees and the likes.) The school's principal made it clear that we shouldn't be caught plucking fruits as we would be punished severely. The principal's definition of punishment was always very extreme and as such, students didn't want to even test their luck. She went further to back up her warning with security men. You would see like two security men guarding one mango tree, it was really hilarious.
I wasn't the acrobatic type who could climb trees and moreover, I didn't like breaking rules(I know better now😐). Even with the security men, mangoes kept missing from trees and everyone saw 'the person' who went around plucking mangoes as a hero.
This kept going on and everyone soon forgot about the mangoes but 'the person' didn't. It seems he was some kind of mango addict or something.
One beautiful afternoon, during our chapel service, a senior student was called out. Whenever someone was called out, three things were involved,( you): were congratulated for a good deed, got a public punishment/ embarrassment or got a white paper(expulsion paper) .
As this senior was called out, the whole hall went quiet. The only thing you could hear was "Jesus Jesus Jesus" echoing everywhere. Fear. The principal, in her usual elegant style, picked up the microphone and told the school that "the mango thief has been caught". Everyone rolled with laughter but it wasn't funny at all😅. I felt the pain in that senior student's eyes.
She went on to say that his punishment is….silence. He would plant six peter mangoes, six kerosene mangoes and six normal mangoes. A total of 18! He would stay in school and ensure that the mangoes grow before he leaves. It sounded like a joke but she said this in front of the whole school, she was dead serious.
The planting wasn't the issue. The issue was that mangoes sprout in after a month or two(if not more) and this senior student was supposed to leave school in two weeks. By leaving school I mean, he was done with his secondary school education and was supposed to start pursuing his college education but the mangoes weren't in his favour either.
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He planted the mangoes and after a week, they died. Tragic. He had to start all over again and the school authorities weren't even making it easy for him. That period was a funny one and nobody, absolutely no one dared to pluck mangoes again. Even when the school's matron gave us during dining, everyone was sceptical, was it a trap?
The mangoes eventually started doing well and the senior student was set free.
It was a tough way to go about it, but the principal managed to send out her message of "no plucking school fruits" in a kick-ass manner.
With love, wongi ✨