Chyawanprash - often called the 'elixir of life' (courtesy Wikipedia) : Somehow since morning, I have flashing thoughts about the bottle of chyawanprash lying around my kitchen counter. No I don't eat this health tonic, but the Mister does, well at least he pretends he does.
I am not for Chywanprash or any health tonic for that matter (c'mon we are two healthy ppl in our twenties) but one fine day the Mister just picked it up from Patel Brother's shelf. Well, that's one thing the Mister does - whenever we are in an Indian store (or for that matter any store), he has the habit of checking out every aisle (even if we don't need anything, and the only reason we came to the store was to buy tylenol) and looking at articles that he might want to buy. He comes up with the most absurd of items at times.... well more about that in another post. Newho, this one time he picked up chyawanprash and bought it home.
Needless to say I wasn't with him when he made the purchase. So when I saw the bottle at home, I asked him why the purchase and he said that he was going to start eating it everyday and start some health regime and eat healthy in general.
I just gave a non-committal shrug and told him that all I care about is that the bottle should not go waste and that he should finish it!
Just to prove that he would, he opened up the bottle right there and ate a big spoonful of it and flexed his imaginary biceps and said that he felt strong and healthy already. I just rolled my eyes and put away the bottle.
A week later after we get back home from work in the evening ....
Moi: Its been a week since you bought chyawanprash and you just ate a spoonful of it. You promised me you would not let it go waste!
Him: Oh I forgot. Will eat it now....
He ate a spoonful and put the bottle away in one of the cabinets.
after a couple of similar incidents as the one above, the bottle was soon forgotten.
A couple of months later - when I was cleaning the cabinets I fished out the long forgotten bottle of Chywanprash and just threw it away, as it was old and did not know what the shelf life of chyawanprash was. When I told the Mister that I threw it away, he gave me the most "I can't believe you did that" look, and I told him that he would never have finished it anyway.
Next week, again a trip to Patel Brothers and again a purchase of Chyawanprash.
Me comes home, confronts him about it and he promises not to disappoint this time and that he really wants to eat the thing. So, this time I take it upon myself to remind him to eat it.
So this is the general course of conversation... In the evening
Moi: Honey, eat your chywanprash ... now !
Him : No, will not eat it now ... will eat it after we are back from the gym
After we come back from the gym
Moi: Chywanprash!!!
Him: Not now, am really hungry and want to eat the delicious stuff you are making, eating it now will spoil my appetite. (of course the '
delicious' is used to cushion the
'no'...)
So after dinner ....
Moi : Chywanprash .....
Him: I am soooo sleepy, I already brushed for the night.... please I cannot eat it now .... will eat it from tomorrow regularly... will not forget - you don't even need to remind me.
After numerous repetitions of the above scene.... I took it upon myself to take a spoonful of chyawanprash and give it to him - at least he cannot deny to eat it then, cos that would mean throwing the spoonful away nd washing the spoon....
So now the only time he eats it is when I remember and give it to him ... sigh!! ... I never thought I would be a wife who would hand out health tonic to her husband!! Is this his second childhood, or did he never pass out of his first one?!! sigh!! Aaah... the life of a wife!!
