This is how I eat an orange. Follow me on this priceless, precious, step-by-step direction.
Do not ignore it. Do not take it as a joke. Do not reject it as a time-passing, mind-wasting, do-nothing commentary.
I am telling you this is how I eat an orange. I am asking you to follow me and do the same.
You shall be richly rewarded.
I. Buy an organic orange here in America. Make sure it is organic and not a Monsanto or Syngenta genetically modified crop.
2. If you’re in India, just get it from a regular farmer at any open-air town market. Darjeeling is a good place to get it. Or, Simla.
3. Hold it.
4. Look at it.
5. Feel it.
6. Put it down on a table and appreciate its beautiful color.
7. Touch it again with your fingers and love its roundness.
8. Smell it. Notice its fresh and soft -tingly fragrance.
9. Take a photo or two. Or, if you’re a painter like Christopher O’Handley who painted the picture above, take some time to paint it.
10. Rub the dust off with a soft cloth or tissue.
11. Gently peel. Gently is the key. Marry your finger’s touch with the soft-firm fruit. Focus.
12. Eat a few peels as I always did back in Calcutta. Orange peels are delicious. Chew them gently. They’re a little bitter-sweet. They’re full of vitamins and cancer-preventing cytokinins and bioflavonoids. But really, they’re delicacy.
13. Now look at the peeled fruit and savor its beauty. Look at the painting above. Look at the photo below. You’ll know what I’m talking about.
14. Lift it and hold it with two palms. Close your eyes and feel its Godly shape and weight.
15. Keep your eyes closed and bring it close to your nose. Now smell it again from a distance of about an inch.
16. Touch the beautiful peeled fruit against your cheeks: one cheek at a time. Hold it delicately against your cheek for about half a minute.
17. Slowly, very carefully, take one segment apart — really, one segment at a time. In Bengali, we call the segments koa. See the beautiful name? Koa. Like, a koa-la bear. Say it with me. K-O-A. Nice, isn’t it?
18. Put it in your mouth. Don’t chew it. Press it with your tongue. The juice will slowly come out and fill up your senses.
19. You are allowed to close your eyes again.
20.
21…
You tell me what the next steps are.
I’m looking forward to your reactions. Your feelings.
Let me know how you did.
I know you did very well.
If you do it this way, you shall be richly rewarded. I know, I said it twice.
Do it.

Sharing Life’s Simple, Divine Pleasures,
Partha
Brooklyn, New York
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