Why did the British call "Mango" a Bathroom Fruit?

A bathroom fruit?! The British tried to distort the name for mango, the king of fruits. The late Dr. M S Randhawa once wrote that the British did not savour the sight of Indians squatting on the floor and sucking on mangoes, with the juice flowing down their elbows. They often referred it to as the 'bathroom fruit.' And they would ensure that the Indian staff in their houses (during the British Raj) would eat mangoes only in the bathroom.

Indian culture is replete with references to the mango. Found in art, poetry, literature and anecdote, the mango has come to symbolize the coming of summer, the season of romance, and a time of abundance when everything is in bloom and the air is rich with the joyful singing of koels.

Indian literature is replete with imagery of mangoes and the koel which signifies spring and the stirring of summer, where all trees are loaded with flowers and everything everywhere is in bloom, with the koel singing from every branch. The koel and mango are entwined to depict bountiful times— a time of joy and plenty.

The mango trees have flowered,These are times of togetherness, and my beloved is not very far..."

Kalidasa and the mango romance. Kalidasa’s lusty-busty verse is ripe with koel-mango references. In one of them, the male koel is drunk on mango nectar and recharged , he begins the courting.The aroma of mango buds only heightens this effect.

Courtesy: Yahoo!