TRUE LIFE STORY

Two students of X Standard fell in love.

The boy wanted to prove his sincerity to the girl.

He brought seeds of Semecarpus Anacardium (marking nuts) (Sanskrit: Agnimukhi, bhallatake). He heated the seeds and wrote the name of his beloved on his chest in big letters by using the seeds as pen. The beloved was immensely pleased at the courageous and decisive step taken by the teenager.

The anacardium seeds have caustic charring/burning/marking effect on the skin. They

left indelible marks on his chest.

Later the relationship broke. His beloved married somebody else. The lover applied several types of lotions and ointments on his chest to erase the name of beloved, in vain.

He is unable to marry or enter into any relationship with other girls. He is afraid even to change his banian (upper undergarment made of hosiery)/t-shirt in the presence of his room-mates, lest the scars should be visible causing embarrassment.

He consulted plastic surgeons of good repute for removing the scars using surgical procedures. The surgeon, though could identify some methods, he could not give much assurance or hope of success except a promise that efforts will be made using modern techniques, of course, for a hefty fee.

While there is a need to reciprocate to a beloved's overtures in time, haste and adventurism is fraught with incorrigible risks.