COCONUT - A LAZY MAN'S FRUIT

Photo credits @Priti Singh

My father always told me that there were two kinds of people in the world - the ones who overlooked every malady, every mystery, every mirth. People whose life graphs rarely fluctuated with the quotidian rhythm of human existence. And then there were others who looked beyond the physical response of the optic nerves, people who saw a meaning to everything even slightly more than mundane and sought answers to the many mysteries of life. As far as I was concerned, there was never a doubt about my typification. A string of broken toys and gadgets bore testimony to this inquisitive trait which had a habit of resurfacing every now and then. 

After living for three long years on the mellifluous islands of Andaman and Nicobar, surrounded by the ubiquitous coconut tree, I knew this was bound to happen again. Daily consumption of freshly plucked coconuts with mouth-watering kernel and the purest form of liquid available to man somehow seemed no longer enough to revive my flagging spirits. And the more I saw the "nutorious" fruit (which cruelly was everywhere), the more I wanted to know about it.

As time passed, the itch only grew stronger and I was certain that I had to dig deeper into the impregnable nut through layers of husk to ferret out answers unknown even to the locals. The only thing they could tell me was that, because it was a sacred fruit presented to the deities, a coconut, due to some unseen force, never fell on anyone’s head. There were times when a coconut had dropped too close to a person, almost scraping the victim, but amazingly never on the head. We had a number of coconut trees in our compound. Nevertheless my head decided best not to test the veracity of the local belief. However, it didn’t deter me from my original mission of discovering more about the coconut. It was a puzzle that had to be solved and a nut that had to be cracked for the benefit of millions of people who had ever smashed a coconut in front of their brand new cars or homes, made an offering of a coconut to propitiate the Gods, gorged on south Indian condiments or simply sipped naariyal paani under the shade of a coconut tree next to a beach on a hot sultry day. Shamelessly, I was guilty of all the above and no wonder very curious to know more about this “King of all nuts.” So, I went around scouting for answers and this is what I found out.

The original home of the coconut lay somewhere northwest of the pacific island nation of New Guinea from where it traveled to various parts of the world eventually colonising the tropical belt. The coconut has been referred to in the literatures of India and Ceylon but surprisingly finds no mention in the Bible. I was also impressed to discover that the coconut was a very fussy tree that could not grow and bear fruit in areas with temperatures less than 68 degree fahrenheit and rainfall less than 152-203cm. It took almost 160 days for a coconut to reach its fullest size, only after which did the shell begin to harden. Once this process got under way, another 220 days were required for the coconut to reach maturity and be plucked for extraction, all in all taking almost a year to be fully formed-easily beating the normal gestation period of a human baby.

Being a very useful fruit, man can use every part of the coconut which has 35% husk, 12% shell, 28% kernel and 15% water and the copra - or the dried meat of the kernels - 65%-70% of oil in it. Contrary to common perception, coconut oil, which till a while back was considered harmful because of high quantities of saturated fats in it, is regarded as healthy today. Research has shown that the medium chain fats present in virgin coconut oil are similar to the fat found in a mother’s milk and have the same nutritional benefits. It is an oil known also for having antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties.

In Sanskrit,  coconut has been called “Kalpa Vriksha”, which means “the tree which provides all the necessities of life.” You’d be surprised if I told you that coconuts have far more utility than is commonly perceived and more than a 100 products all over the world are made directly or indirectly from this very underrated fruit. A single coconut has as much protein in it as a quarter pound of beefsteak. Even the trunk of the coconut tree (which appears to be of little value)  is used as construction lumber known as “porcupine wood” in places where it is easily available. Today over 3.5 million hectares of land spread throughout the globe is under coconut cultivation and 86 countries all around the world are cultivating the fruit and producing almost 17,000 million nuts every year. Pretty nutty statistics, huh?

But the most remarkable thing about this wonderful palm is that it has more names than one can imagine. It has been called "man’s most useful tree,” “King of the tropical flora,” “tree of heaven,” “tree of life” and “a Lazy man’s crop” as it doesn’t require a lot of tending to once the plant has firmly taken root. The Nicobarese tribals even today depend completely on this cash crop and a number of their folk tales are spun around this beautiful tree which grows in profusion all over the island but is not considered to be indigenous to the territory. This is how a folk tale traces the origin of the coconut tree on the Car-Nicobar Island.

It so happened that long, long ago, there was once an acute shortage of fresh water on the island
and, with no solution in sight,  all round anxiety prevailed. Then, from nowhere, appeared a strange man who through the power of evil magic produced water from his elbow. Everyone was shocked and scared. Taking him to be the devil, for only he could accomplish such an impossible feat, the villagers, out of rage, chopped off his head. Then another incredible thing happened. From the very place where the decapitated head had fallen, the first coconut plant sprang into life. It soon grew into a strong and tall tree and bore fruits, which resembled the head of the beheaded devil man. But the villagers were mortified of plucking and tasting the fruit due to its horrific origins. Out of the fallen coconuts grew many more trees and soon a large portion of the village was covered in dense coconut groves. Then one day, an old dying man professed his desire to taste the forbidden fruit. No sooner had he eaten the delicious coconut kernel and drank its water, not only did he live, but also regained his youthful charm and vigour.

Well, its anybody’s guess what happened thereafter. The whole village soon followed suit, so much so, that today coconut is at the top of their dietary preference and integral to the Nicobarese socio-economic and religious life.

As far as I am concerned, the coconut has found new respect in my eyes. I understand the nut better and completely abide by the maxim; “Everything has a History." Even odd looking fruits. Today, I still want to break open a coconut, not to understand it, but to simply savour this very interesting fruit.