Diplomats share fondness for mangoes on social media
Pakistanis pleasantly surprised to see photos of envoys eating the king of fruits
When the Australian ambassador shared his photos savouring Pakistani mangoes with fork and knife on a neatly set table, locals dared him to put away the cutlery and eat the mangoes in “pure Pakistani style” to truly enjoy them.
To weeks later, Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Geoffrey Shaw, not only accepted the challenge, but also surprised Pakistanis. In photos uploaded on Twitter, Dr Shaw is seen enjoying mangoes using both his hands — without any cutlery. “I’ve listened to the many comments after my previous tweet and tried eating mangoes in the traditional Pakistani style,” he wrote. “A good mango, eaten ‘the right way’, can lift your spirits. It’s rightly called ‘The King of Fruits’ in Pakistan,” he commented.
Gone viral
Within four hours, the photo was shared by more than 1,000 on Twitter and had 7,500+ ‘likes’. Most comments under the tweet appreciated the diplomat’s ‘desi’ effort, saying: “This is the right way to eat mangoes” and “to show love for mangoes”. Those residing abroad voiced their frustration for not being able to enjoy local mangoes this year after restricted exports due to the coronavirus pandemic, while others insisted to enhance export of Pakistani mangoes to Australia.
Dr Geoffrey Shaw is not the only one to share his fondness for Pakistani mangoes as several
other envoys also expressed their love for the delicious fruit.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Christian Turner, captivated Pakistanis when he quoted one of the finest Urdu poets, Mirza Ghalib, in his tweet with photos of mango slices. The Netherlands Ambassador Wouter Plomp, also shared his love for mangoes in a tweet in Urdu, saying: “Pakistani aam dunya may behtreen hay” (Pakistani mangoes are best in the world).
Last year in July, UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi, had joined a major mango festival in Islamabad where he expressed his love for Pakistani mangoes.