David Kalloo

Green Mango Chow David Kalloo

Ma Draper's life revolved around her green mango chow and hymn singing, on her rhythm finding rocking chair and the excitement of Saturday morning market. Her quaint house on a quiet side street in the heart of Arima was the conference room for the local basketball team and a hotbed for the all-encompassing start of a campaign to elect a vibrant young mayor and, rid the council of its corrupt and out of touch administration. The young McDonald Brown, a Canadian university graduate was charged with the aspirations of transforming the market town nestled in the foothills of the northern range. Fitzroy, Ma Draper's son drafted a vision of the town becoming a vibrant destination for sports and cultural events that will help to drive the town's economy. Relieved that Fitzroy had abandoned his desires of becoming a seaman, Ma Draper eventually lost Fitzroy to the booming oil industry after he moved to the southern part of the island to take up a position with an oil company. Although masterminding the election strategy and manifesto for the long term vision of the municipality, Fitzroy wanted no active role in politics. His only regret, having to give up basketball. Elsa, Ma Draper's foster daughter's relationship with a young enterprising police officer who rose quickly in rank and charged with eradicating a spate of sporadic fatal robberies that had plunged the country into a terror zone in the aftermath of the Black Power movement and a failed coup in 1970. The situation worsened when the blame fell on the doors of the country's Rastafarian community. Ma Draper never allowed any paradigms in society to tamper with her morals. She supported the old regime, continued with her ritual duty of making her daily mango chow, and welcomed Fitzroy's wife with open arms when he returned only to inform her he was being sent to Scotland to pursue studies in petroleum engineering. The breakdown in the relationship between Elsa and her policeman partner after the true identity of the criminal was finally revealed and the loss of the mango tree failed to dent Ma Draper's motivation. With her rhythm finding rocking chair, it was easy to bring a hymn to her lips.