It happened on a Sunday afternoon. The door bell rang just as Babloo's mother was about to serve lunch. Babloo went to open the door. He peeked through the peephole to see who it was and jumped with fright.

There, on the other side of the door, was the strangest looking man he had ever seen. His hair looked like he had just had an electric shock. Each white strand was standing upright on a balding head. Perched on his nose was a pair of 'Gandhiji' glasses of the most bizarre rainbow colour. His paan-stained lips were curved up in a moronic smile, revealing a set of dirty yellow teeth. He was wearing a white overcoat and had a red briefcase in hand. Babloo looked at his mother with a fearful expression.

"What's the matter, beta? Who's at the door?" she asked.
Babloo looked at his mother, wide eyed in shock. "It's an electrocuted porcupine!" he yelled.
Mom looked at him quizzically. "I don't understand," she said.
"I don't know who he is, Mom. All I know is that he looks very frightening. Please Mom, you open the door," Babloo replied shakily.
She left her seat and looked through the peephole. To Babloo's surprise, she smiled and flung the door wide open.
"Mom, what are you doing? Who's he?" Babloo asked alarmed.
She smiled, was about to say something, then stopped short. "Oh, you wouldn't know him. He is a cousin of mine, a scientist."
Babloo was puzzled. "A Scientist?"

The man walked in with a limp. He peeked from over his glasses and smiled. A dozen laugh lines crept up on either side of his cheeks. He spoke in a loud, gruff voice.

"Hello Babloo. I'm your Mama. My name is Bhootpret. Pleased to meet you." He stuck out a hand.

But Babloo refused to take his hands out of his pocket. No way was he going to shake this man's hand. Mom had never mentioned this strange man! "Bhootpret, what a strange name. Surely he couldn't be named after ghosts!" he thought. The man looked at him, seemed to read his thoughts much to his dismay and clarified, "You're right. My name is not really Bhootpret. Everyone call me that because of the way I look. You can call me Bhootpret Mama too. It doesn't bother me."

Babloo thought that made sense. Now why was he here? Before he could voice his thoughts, Bhootpret replied, "You must be wondering why I'm here. Well, the fact is your Mom told me about you. You don't like vegetables, right?" Babloo glared at his Mom. Now what was all this about? Why was Mom discussing him and his problems with this strange man?

Mom looked at Babloo. "Beta, let me explain. Bhootpret Mama is a scientist. The other day he gave me a call and told me about his new experiment. He has invented an interesting vitamin pill diet for those who don't like vegetables. You know how important greens are for you. You are losing out on a lot of nutrition because you don't like leafy vegetables. The good news is Bhootpret Mama has brought you some vitamin pills that you can gulp down everyday and you won't have to eat spinach and lettuce ever again." Babloo slumped down on the sofa. This was ridiculous. A question came to his mind. "What happens if I don't have the pills or the green vegetables?"
"Oh," replied Bhootpret Mama, "nothing much. You'll only end up looking like me," he replied gaily.
Babloo was alarmed. "You mean you never ate your vegetables so you ended up like this?"
Bhootpret Mama grimaced. "That's right, son. Can you guess my age?"

Babloo took a moment to think then answered, "Uh… you look about 70." Bhootpret Mama shook his head sadly, "No, son. I'm 40." Babloo was stunned. "But that's as old as Daddy. He doesn't have grey hair or wrinkles, bent bones and bad teeth…"

"Babloo, don't be rude," his mother cautioned. "Now why don't you just sit with your Mama and try out vitamin pills."

Reluctantly, Babloo sat down beside the strange man. He didn't like this one bit. He had not intention of ending up looking the way Bhootpret Mama did. Perhaps he could try out the vitamin pill diet. "Okay, Bhootpret Mama. What is the pill about? Why haven't you ever taken it?" Bhootpret Mama sighed. "How I wish I had thought of it earlier. You know, last year my ankle broke when I just tripped over a chair. My teeth wobble even if I bite my tongue. It's too late for you. Why don't you start it now?"

Bhootpret Mama took out an aluminum box from his pocket. Slowly and carefully, he opened it, almost like it was a box full of gold coins. Babloo peeped in. Inside were long green capsules that smelt of cow dung. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
   
Bhootpret Mama was oblivious to the reaction. "Aren't they beautiful? Just gulp down tow of them with water after every meal. You can even chew them if you like. They'll taste like biscuits. You might find them a bit smelly at first, but you'll get used to it. Don't worry if you smell of the vitamins yourself too. That's just a little side effect. But at least you won't have to ever have those horrible leafy vegetables again!" Bhootpret Mama held out a hand full of vitamins.

Babloo was panic-stricken. This was certainly not what he wanted. He could not possibly have these foul-smelling, huge pills for the rest of his life. He looked at Bhootpret Mama. No, he could not look as sickly as him either. Suddenly the aroma of 'palak paneer' wafted from the kitchen. It smelt fresh and wonderful. His mother placed the bowl on the dining table. Babloo ran forward and peered into it. It looked delicious. The rich green colour glistened under the light.

Bhootpret Mama hobbled forward and placed the vitamin pills in Babloo's palm. Babloo looked at them with distaste. Then he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He tore out a portion of a newspaper, crushed the capsules into it, crumpled the whole thing into a ball and flung it as far as he could out of the window.

"Sorry Bhootpret Mama," he said, helping himself to a generous portion of his dinner, "but I would much rather have fresh, tasty green vegetables every day."

Behind Babloo's back, his mother looked at the old man and grinned. The old man winked back. She whispered, "Thank you, doctor. You've been great."

About the Author-  Joyeeta Ray is a Consultant Copywriter with over 15 years of copywriting experience in reputed advertising agencies across Asia including Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Vietnam, Jakarta and New Delhi, from where she hails originally. she has also worked as a Journalist and Contributor to the Jakarta Post in Jakarta, specializing on India related features. Currently she resides in Bangkok with her husband and two daughters. 'Time for a Tale' and 'Tales never Told' are a compilation of original short stories for children between 5 to 10 years of age, that marked her foray into the fascinating world of Childrens' Literature. The story presented here is from her book 'Time for a Tale'. Click here to buy this book from amazon.com