SAMUNDAR AND PRAWN FRY

Another story for my dear readers, this one is dedicated to my Sudhanna. Here goes ---

Did I ever tell you about this cute little boy who turned into a lion, when he pulled his ears rather too much and licked his own nose last July? No? Ok! I'll tell you now! So go bring your favourite pillow, and sit down before me cross-legged, and....... and listen!

Ok, so once upon a time, I think it was July last year, this cute little boy called Samundar pulled his ears hard and licked his nose. You know what happens when you do that, an hour after you've eaten prawn fry - the Prawn Witch appears from nowhere and tells you about your TLW. Yeah, explains it to you. So when she asked ..... what??? don't tell me you don't know TLW!!!!! You seriously mean to say you've never heard of TLW!?? What a poor ignorant creature you are! Ok, TLW means The Last Wish.

Lemme tell you systematically, right from the beginning. Whenever you pull your ears and lick your own nose simultaneously, exactly 60 minutes after eating Prawn Fry, this Prawn Witch appears in front of you and says, "Oh ye naughty child, I'm going to turn you into an animal. Tell me which animal you would like to be. And before your metamorphosis, I shall grant you a wish, your last wish as a human."

So when the Prawn Witch asked Samundar what his last wish was, he said, "Oh Prawn Devi, please, please let me eat my favourite prawn fry once again, oh, please say yes! My granny's gonna make prawn fry on my birthday!"

"And so shall it be!"- replied the witch. Such was Samundar's love for prawn fry, even though that was what had got him into this mess!

"And who would you like to be? Which animal? Surely not a prawn!" she winked.

"Devi, make me a lion! I've always wanted to be a brave lion." Naughty little boys like Samundar had to be ready with such answers, they never knew when Prawn Witches and Lobster Witches would catch them........

"Alright Samundar......... just close your eyes, and open them after repeating "prawn fry ki jai" for a hundred times!"

"But my prawn fry........"

"Yes yes.... you'll get to taste it.... but first things first....... close your eyes."

And Samundar began chanting "prawn fry ki jai". 99 more times, and of course you guessed it right, he opened his eyes to look at his lion paws and his flowing mane. The Prawn Witch was nowhere to be seen. Just a moment of remorse, but then he was his jolly old self once again. After all, he was a lion now! The king of the jungle! No one could now stop him from playing pranks.....

He set off for his granny's Saraswatiamma's house. He decided he'd low lie somewhere near her house, and the next day, that was going to be his birthday, he'd dash into the house in the afternoon, when she'd surely have prepared her tasty juicy prawn fry. The mere thought of it made him prance with joy!

Now let me not bore you with the details of how Samundar the new lion spent the day....... Let's fast forward to the part where he reached his granny's house............

Samundar could see his granny resting in her favourite easy-chair in the backyard. Oh, he almost cried out - Paati!!!!! Sarupaati! But he checked himself, he couldn't afford to let granny see him. She'd faint with fright to see a lion in her house! So he tiptoed into the kitchen as silently as he could. But alas............. Saraswatiamma just came in and what did she see............. an actual live lion in her kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About to lick the prawn fry she'd made for her darling grandson!

"Hey you! How dare you eat prawn fry I made specially for my Samundar! Shoo shoo! Out you go this very minute!!!!!!!" And granny looked so angry, Samundar meekly left the house. He had underestimated his granny. She'd become angry instead of being scared of him! Oh well.... now how was he to eat prawn fry? Young Samundar, the "brave" lion actually began to cry, I mean roar with despair.

Now the Prawn Witch was witnessing all this. She was a good natured Prawn Witch, and she knew it was her duty to help Samundar. After all she had to see to it that his last wish was fulfilled. That he got to eat that prawn fry. After an exhaustive brainstorming session, she decided, the only solution to this grave problem, would be to make Samundar a naughty young boy once again. Nothing else would make Saraswatiamma let him eat that prawn fry. So she just sprinkled some magic dust on Samundar, and what happened?!! He became his old self once again! You know, all these special powers Prawn Witches have!!!

Anyways, that took Samundar by surprise, but he was most delighted! He realised what this meant. He could go and eat his favourite prawn fry without any problem! He immediately went back to his granny's house, and his granny too was very happy to see her grandson. She thought she'd not tell Samundar about the lion, lest he got scared . But before she could even wish him happy birthday, he ran into the kitchen and served himself some prawn fry. Samundar literally gobbled it up, and only then did he turn to his granny... and he hugged her, hugged her tight.

And then what did he do? He made her sit down, and slept with his head on her lap, hands holding hers, for more than an hour. He couldn't risk letting his hands free - what if they pulled his ears and his tongue slipped out of his mouth to lick his nose again exactly after an hour of finishing that delicious prawn fry!!!!!!!!!!

So dear readers of my blog, Samundar lived happily ever after, and Saraswatiamma made him his favourite prawn fry every birthday and he took special care to not let the Prawn Witch arrive. And it would help you too, if you remember not to pull your ears and lick your nose 60 minutes after eating prawn fry........

A note for my readers: Though I have seen prawns in my school biology lab, I've never seen / eaten prawn fry, and I do not intend to advocate non-vegetarianism with this story. :D