Forbidden fruits

Today a Lazza icecream seller materialised on the road in front of our apartment, and soon girls from the hostel in front were seen buying icecreams. The kids, on their watch tower in the balcony, began clamouring for it too.
Later, we told them. Mira is easy to pacify. But not Ash. A child who has been living without most goodies that kids his age eat, he couldnt resist this. He was on the verge of tears. I looked at the broken skin on his cheeks and brows, and said: Later, when your skin is better. It is with a heavy heart that we refuse him eatables.
Two days back, he spied V taking chicken for lunch. Nothing evades his eyes. My inlaws have strictly instructed us that we not buy/make anything he cant eat. (The ayurvedic medicines he is taking mean that he has to forgo non-veg food and cold stuff like icecreams; less tubers, less pulses, less chilli & tamarind, no afternoon naps, and only boiled water. Even otherwise, his eczema makes him allergic to most food including milk and wheat products.) They went on a sabbatical when Ash was with them. But not V. Like many Indian men expect, his needs should be the household's priorities. If the man of the house needs a low-fat diet, the rest of the family should also go for a fat-free diet. But if the woman of the house needs a low-salt diet, she better make it separately for herself.
"Can I at least see the chicken, Appa?" Ash asked, with tears welling up in his eyes. He had a look, and then told his dad: "Will you get me chicken that wont itch?"
V told me later that day how rotten it had made him feel.

p.s. I plan to try a neem bath for him after reading an article about how neem benefits eczema.