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No sweetener needed..!

Of times when I sit down to write, my hand goes to the jar which my wife lovingly keeps filled with something or other for me to munch. Today it was empty. Emptied of course by my elder one who somehow manages to discover and ferret out my hoarded chocolates or other scrumptious stuff kept for my palate to linger upon and enjoy.

I walked to the door and called out to my driver who also acts as my man Friday. "Tayab," I told him. " A packet of cashew, as fast as you can!," I love cashew and can devour them faster than an anteater gorging on an ant hill.

"Salted or sweetened Sir," he asked. "Plain," I said, as I looked at him with surprise, and he went away on the double to feed his hungry master.

"Salted or sweetened?," I asked myself and smiled, "was there any need to add anything farther to a nut that was already so rich in taste. A nut that when roasted and eaten had a flavour that did not need any addons Not like bland , raw fruit that needed to be dipped in salt and pepper, that needed mustard and sauces and sweeteners to allow the choosy tongue to want to sample it. The cashew needed no such thing. It was rich with its own taste.

I remember once buying a hot dog in London. It looked scrumptious and yummy as the vendor pulled it out of his frying pan and served it to me. I bit it in to it and nearly spat the blasted thing out. It was one of the most unkind morsels that had ever tempted my taste buds. My friend who was watching me laughed and pointed to the different sauces that lined the counter. "The sauces make the taste," he said.

My cashew needs no salt. Nor does it need to be sweetened. Its good all by itself.

The doorbell rang and I took the packet from my driver's hand and hurried to treat my hungry self. As I devoured them one after the other, I thought how like some of us, the cashew is.

Some of us who do not need a sweetener to make us acceptable to the world. Who are liked even if our handshake is not the perfect one. Who are respected even though our clothes are not designer stuff. Who are loved for our bald heads or stringy hair.

People who do not need any sweeteners.

Who like the cashew have a natural flavour deep inside, that makes them appreciated and loved by those around.

And we others who need our sweeteners. Our glowing gowns and smart suede shoes. Our practised posture and our sweet smile. Our hearty handshake and our herculean hug.

Our sweetener, our hypocrisy..! There is a story of how God told his prophet. " God seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart.." God glances past the sweetener, looks past the sauces and spices and personality poses that we have cultivated and knows what we actually are.

Can we really say of ourselves, "No sweetener needed..?"

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