It was Eid. Sheikh’s in-laws invited him and Fawzia to the festival. Everyone was very happy. Sheikh and Fawzia loved each other a lot. Fawzia’s mother had prepared several delicacies. Sheikh ate a hearty meal. He praised each and every food dish, a lot. Fawzia’s uncle, who belonged to Varanasi, had brought special ‘Banarasi Paan’ (betel leaf) with him. He offered the ‘paan’ to everyone. Sheikh had never eaten any such thing in his lifetime. He was very amused. When he started chewing paan, a stream of betel juice, red in colour, started flowing out from one side of Sheikh’s mouth. The drops even fell on his white shirt. Sheikh thought that blood was oozing out of his mouth and he started crying. Everyone surrounded Sheikh and started enquiring about the matter. Sheikh said, “I am going to die soon; look at this blood oozing out of my mouth!” Everyone started laughing loudly, as they knew it was nothing else but red betel leaf juice!
Eating Betel Leaf
