A neighbour had hacked down a 200-year-old mango tree known locally as Vellathan, which grew in his home. "The tree had produced the sweetest mangos I’ve ever tasted," says Machathi. "It was exquisite, an endemic native variety that was very rare." But it was also undeniably old. Parts of the large tree would come hurtling to the ground, making it such a hazard that the neighbour decided that it needed to be chopped down for his peace of mind. "The tree was so much a part of our growing years, the landscape of our lives that we were all just shocked over losing it overnight," says Machathi.
