30/1 (No, it's not the score)

Take two snooker balls and make a bigger one out of them. Now that you have got the size in your mind, that was the size of the cauliflower I bought yesterday. But I could not believe it when I was told that it cost 30 rupees. What is the country coming to? Despite the off-season, I could not believe it could have been more than 10. Or is it the city, because not very long back, I used to hear cries saying we can have two of them for 5 rupees in peak season, and they used to be double the size of what I had in my hand yesterday.

Living in the southern cities - Bangalore, Chennai and now Hyderabad - I realised that the cost of fruits in this part of the country was abysmally bad. And now, I would say the same for vegetables as well. I remember, during the peak mango season last year, someone commanded Rs. 35 for a single piece! I had a strange feeling on hearing this audacious announcement, a feeling that could potentially lead me to touching his feet or smashing his head. In a spectacular display of patience and calm, I smiled at him and returned. I did not go near a mango that year. Time, as usual, has been a great healer and now - even though I do not usually buy them - an apple at Rs. 25 or an orange at 15 does not shake my heart to convulsions. Images of my dad bringing home baskets of the most delicious Himsagar mangoes flash back in my mind, and the miles to Calcutta multiply manifold.

I am feeling a bit dehydrated since yesterday. And whenever I am telling people why I did not go to office, I am feeling more sick. Because the unanimous verdict is - 'Have lots of fruits and juices!'