Chocolate Diaries

From dad to dad, the mode of expressing one’s love for one’s children varies a lot. Some  explicit, some implicit. For some it is a routine to carry home chocolates whereas some are at pains to prevent their children from such indulgences. Gandhism, Nihilism, Narcissism, Buddhism, buddu-ism  all come into play in those daily family dramas. Less sinful are the hands of parents going home empty handed whereas more tearful are the eyes of their kids. Those who offer chocolates and other junk food as staple diet feel relieved of their guilt for a moment as the faces of their kids glow in joy. Happiness is a great leveller. For one, I stand on the middle of the road. I do buy chocolates for my son but not too often. Whenever I offer him one, I bend before him pleading for my alms. “Please spare a square for your dad” I cry. In doing so I am hopeful of reducing the ill-effects chocolates would have on him and hence assuage the guilt I feel for having spoilt his health! Any way it leaves no bitter taste-this act of sharing the spoils! Only that my concern for his health grows in proportion to the quality of chocolates he bites. If it is the mouth-watering Swiss ones- I am almost restless with my concern for his health at its peak! And my wife looks the other way. Recently my health mission received a shot in the arm. It came in the form of a news report which claimed dark chocolates are good for health, according to a recent research. Good for heart ailment and hypertension, to be precise. Though I have none of these ailments, why not take daily doses of the health shots? Isn’t prevention better than cure? Enlightened and hence emboldened, I upped my health mission so much so that my home almost began to witness a reversal of roles! I was audacious enough to swallow dark chocolates in my son’s full view, ignoring his histrionics. I know that he being what he is, his dad’s son, chances of his standing on his own feet until he reaches his middle age are very remote and hence my longevity has a vital bearing on his well being  and hence I was not being selfish when I was devouring dark chocolates as antidotes against my aging. But could I ever convince him about these facts? Little did I know that my grandiose plans for enhancing my longevity were so short-lived! Close on the heels of sweet news about chocolates, came a dampener. This time another team of researchers (may their tribe decrease) had a word of caution for health freaks such as myself passing dark chocolates for manna. According to ‘Lancet’, a leading medical journal, the reports hailing the health benefits of dark chocolates should be taken with a pinch of salt. For it is  not the dark chocolates per se that are good for heart diseases and high blood pressure but ‘ flavanoid’ instead, supposed to be there in it as its ingredient. Pity, most chocolate makers remove it from dark chocolates due to its bitter taste, says the report. So I was back to square one, literally eating my humble pie…the squares of chocolates doled out by my munificent son. That left me wondering why truth tastes so bitter, notwithstanding Robert Browning’s take on it!