Prat, and the curious case of the valentine! (2)

Subbu was Mr. Sri's nephew. Mr. Sri despised all his near and, if I may say so, dear ones. They gave him that pain. Whatever they did, it sickened and bothered him.

Not that Subbu ever did do anything.

Subbu, at an emotionally weak moment, opted to write the UPSC exams in 2006. Failing to make the grade by a narrow margin, he again took the exams in 2007, 2008, 2009 and looked like carrying on in this fashion till the supply of UPSC exams gave out.

His mother, eager to produce the first service-man in a family of landed gentry, consulted her astrologer. And the astrologer revealed that all that stood between her son and the first civil servant in the family, was a trecherous Saturn and a change in venue was all that was required. On his advise, she packed him off to Hyderabad,after writing a thoughtful word to her brother.

"Lunch?", offered Mr. Sri stiffly.

"Oh my, I am starving", said Subbu.

And Mr. Sri led him to the charpoy and waved a hand at the mass of potato peels, orange peels, banana skins, fresh carrots, spinach and other medicinal herbs.For, "the garbage" that Prat had pointed at, was indeed, Mr. Sri's lunch.

All of Mr. Sri's relations put down Mr. Sri's temper to his peculiar diet. Mr. Sri's diet was entirely devoid of sugar (caused tooth decay), salt (hypertension), oil(cardiac arrest),tamarind (acidity)and spices(constipation and cancer).

"Eh....what is this?", inquired Subbu.

"Spinach,", said Mr. Sri, munching happily,"bucks you up if you haven't enough hemoglobin"

Whether Subbu's stock of hemoglobins were adequate or not, they certainly surged freely within the next two days.But then, this was more due to his sighting of the girl next door than due to Mr. Sri's bountiful lunch.

(tbc)