Toronto Diary- A for APPLE

A for APPLE . This is how I learnt the first alphabet of English language. All of us learnt it the same way. Even today A for apple is as important as it was when we were little kids. A is the stepping stone. Stepping stone of significant stages of the evolutionary processes of human civilisation.

As the Biblical story goes, God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden to live and roam freely, except that they were not to go near the tree of knowledge and eat the fruit of knowledge-- apple -- at any cost. The rebellious Satan tempted Eve to eat the apple from the tree . God enraged by this defiance, threw Eve — and by default, Adam, down on earth to earn his food by “the sweat of his brow".

Then came Newton. Lying under an apple tree, he observed an apple falling from the tree,suddenly making him realise that all objects fall from sky: no object goes up . Thus came the revelation to him: his famous Law of Gravitational Force . An ordinary apple brought to him, and,through him, to the world the knowledge which was always there but no one had ever noticed it . 

In the modern world who does not know Apple! The iconic trade mark of Apple iPhones, iPads, and laptops. An apple of which a small portion is bitten off. One of the most important symbols of the modern technology, Apple represents the latest phase of evolution of human knowledge. I sometimes wonder if this partly bitten apple is the same Apple eaten by Eve ,the great great grand mother of human race.

The last weekend: we decided to go apple- picking to the Chudleigh Apple Picking Farm which lay at an hour's distance from our residence in Toronto. It was a pleasant afternoon after a light drizzle. Initially, Bhanu was to take us there,but then an unscheduled business meeting popped up. So, Anshul , Mrs S, little Viplav, our pet Dylan, and I hopped into our car,and listening to melodious Jazz music,reached the farm where we were joined by my niece Mona, her husband, Sujit and their lovely daughter, Ananya. 

The Chudleigh Farm,established in 1967 is vast,and lined with thousands of trees laden with luscious apples. The tours to the park are costly@ the rate of 20 dollars per individual. Yet, there were no less than a thousand people-- young , old, children in their prams. All, full of happy faces and vibrant hearts! We crossed a patch of flowery beds,and some crowded eateries and activity centres to reach an open area where some kids were playing on the strategically placed tractors. 

Beyond a barricade, a very large tractor trolley was stationed. A large seating space was fabricated with thick layers of hay. People could also sit on the floor of the trolley and watch the mesmeric view of a mile long of apple laden trees on both sides. O, what a view! Everyone on the trolley watched, marvelled, watched again as the tractor,slowly but steadily,moved on the metalled road giving us a bird's eye view of - if I use a Dickensian expression- " Nature's Bounty.” We saw and marvelled at the numerous symmetrical rows of trees blessed with apples which were juicy, delicious, mouth- watering, almost ambrosial. 

The tractor- trolley sputtered and stopped on many points so that the tourists could alight or board in order" to stand and stare", to pluck and put their teeth into and chew upon the delectable apples of their choice. In fact, there were a large number of varieties; hence each to his choice. Some preferred a green unripe apple, another, a half ripe one, still another a full red and juicy one. 

Anshul knew which variety would suit our palate. So our whole gang jumped off. We loitered on the kuchha tracks, pausing to savour the dainty beauty and sweet fragrance permeating the air. We cracked jokes, pulled one anothers’ leg and clicked pictures in the most bizarre poses.It was fun in its most spontaneous and purest form. 

There were so many other diversions. For children, there were fun parks with animals like llamas, camels, goats, pigeons and cows etc. to play with .However,as it very often happens, our joy was cut short. The dark clouds which hung heavy on our heads for some time, suddenly started down loading their treasures . It was a heavy downpour. Everyone rushed to find a shelter, but there were few nearby. Fortunately, a tractor trolley came handy. We rushed, our pet dog hastily trailing us,to secure a safe haven under the roof of the trolley. The pleasure, thus was cut short. 

We came back to the starting point and entered a huge dhaba type eating spot where a large number of wooden benches served to sooth our dripping bodies and fatigued legs.

We found another huge structure which had counters offering fine qualities of freshly made apple pies, juices , ciders and other such delicacies. Of course, the queues were serpentine, but the wait was worth it; all the items were fresh and without preservatives . So with our loads of freshly plucked apples, juices and pies, we decided to give a halt to our happy hours.

Half- heartedly, we left the farm and returned to our cars. On our way back, the plan was to halt at Mona's home at Brampton, " the little Punjab" as it is called. We stopped at a popular Indian restaurant to buy some "garmagaram samosas".I was wonderstruck to find such a very wide range of Indian mithais at this eatery. 

Staying at Mona and Sujit's beautiful home was the last lag of our most enjoyable and magical tour of this Apple Farm.Then back we came back home, sweetly fatigued and slipped into the coziness of our beds and dreamt of the beautiful and ruddy apples.

P.S. : While at the farm, I was repeatedly reminded of the adage: an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. However, I knew I could not have an apple daily. And as for the doctor, at my age, doctors are my saviours, my guardian angels!. So, apple or no apple, the question of keeping them away does not arise! Not even in my dreams!!