A huge, green, thorny fruit comes into our mind! Ugly at the first look, hard, sticky & messy to cut, gives out a strange smell. So many minus points about a fruit! But, I am very sure that anybody who has eaten this divine fruit and knows the taste and benefits of the Jack fruit tree, leaves, unripe fruits, etc. will definitely not mind the ugly look nor the pungent smell.
I always imagine this fruit to be so closely associated with the nature of human beings. We are so stubborn, harsh, egoistic to fellow human beings at times, but only the ones who are close to us know that the harsh looking, attitude venting person is actually the one with soft and pleasing nature in reality. Time and again, it has been proved not to judge anybody by face value but instead look at their actions to really know a person. Such a powerful lesson by this fruit increases my respect and love to it.
“Jack fruit could be one of the most promising solutions for sustainably feeding the world” – i was inspired to write about my love to Jack fruit tree after reading this quote in an article. It is said that a single jack fruit tree can grow about 100 to 200 fruits in a year – wow! that is a massive count! Imagine how many poor people, tribals and animals’ hunger could be filled by this fruit!
I took this photo on an International Yoga Day when I happened to attend a yoga event in an ashram in the outskirts of Bengaluru. I was so awed by the tree and its fruits lying on the ground so humbly. I felt so small in front of this tree, such a sweet tree bearing divine fruits, yet the fruits don’t mind lying on the ground. There is a lesson we can learn from every tree which bears fruit, gives shade even after withstanding the harsh climate, torture by human beings and the impact of fast-growing concrete cities.
As a child I always loved eating Jack fruit and waited for the season eagerly. My mother used to tell stories about how jack fruits mixed with honey are the favourite food of Bears. Being a dreamer, I used to imagine a big bear tearing a jack fruit to remove the pulp and mix it with honey from a buzzing honey comb in a wild forest and slowly relishing it! Hmmm… what a delicious sight! I have even tried eating jack fruits mixing it with honey to experience the taste. 🙂
With or without honey, jack fruits are truly the sweetest of fruits. I recently came across the fact that the dried mature leaves of jack fruit are made into tea powder which helps in controlling asthma to great extent. There are so many benefits of this tree including some research on cancer cure available on the internet. It is such a pleasant feeling to know that Jack fruits originated in India (discovery of ZERO being the next!!) before spreading to other countries.
This is my first write-up to share my immense love towards trees. It is a great & peaceful feeling to begin my journey of sharing #TreeLove on this Valentine’s Day!

Written for Parul’s prompt on #ThursdayTreeLove-57 : photo-feature about trees hosted on 2nd and 4th Thursdays every month