We all relish Pineapple, this tropical fruit is cultivated only in few regions of the world. It takes five to ten month for a pineapple to flower and further six months for its fruit.
How do you think pineapple originated. The Philippines seem to have an answer to this question.
As per Filipino legends, there was a little girl named Pina who lived with her mother in a fruit plantation, in the countryside of Philippines. Her mom was hard working so was Pina, but when it came to household chores Pina showed no interest; she only loved to play all day. Pina always procrastinated and ignored the household work her mom gave. She would start the work and then leave it half done for the next day. Her tomorrow never came and the work always remained incomplete. Pina often stopped in the middle of her household chore to play. She always complained that she could not find anything her mom kept or she would not understand the instructions her mom gave. The folklore further says that her mom was too vocal with her careless ill wishes and would curse people who did not please her. However, she was tolerant when it came to her daughter.
One day Pina’s mother asked her to get her wooden shoes from under their hut. She went down their hut and looked under it. Pina in her usual procrastination cried out “I can’t see it”. Her mother was trying to guide her but Pina kept on repeating that she is unable to see it. Her mom in rage cursed her “May you grow a thousand eyes”. Suddenly Pina disappeared.
A search party looked all over the plantation for Pina and there was no trace of hers. One day while Pina’s Mom was in her backyard she discovered a new plant species. This fruit was of the size of Pina’s head it was covered with eyes. Looking that the fruit covered with eyes she remembered her last curse, where she asked Pina to grow a thousand eyes. From then on, she called the plant, a pineapple, or “Pinya” in Filipino.