Priya's starvation diet!

But Priya  was very fussy about eating. She lived on junk  food.  No amount of coaxing and cajoling worked.

Priya's parents were on the verge of despair when Aunt Ammu arrived.  Despite the vast difference in their ages,  there was a rare rapport between Priya and her aunt.

 "And what have you to say about your daughter?" she asked, looking at the parents with a twinkle in her eyes. This was a cue the mother wasn't going to miss. "By and large,  Priya is a good child. There is just one problem. She isn't at all interested in food. Most days she brings back the lunch box untouched."

"No wonder you are so dimunitive!" chuckled Aunt Ammu .

" So Amma and Appa complained to you," stated Priya, her tone mutinous. The remark was ignored. "You are an intelligent girl. I am sure you know what is good for you. Will you promise to eat better?"

"I will try," was the unenthusiastic reply

There was a perceptible difference in Priya. Though she still pecked at her breakfast and dinner, she ate well at lunch time if her lunch box was anything to go by. The lunch box, which her mother filled with painstakingly prepared goodies,  came back empty. Her parents were thrilled though Aunt Ammu was a bit skeptical. " Before long, Priya will be eating three hearty meals," her parents thought, with fond hope.

What they didn't know was that Priya used to throw the contents of her lunch box into a big rubbish bin just outside the school when no one was watching. One day, as usual, Priya went stealthily up to the rubbish bin to fling the food into it. She saw a little girl, no older than herself standing there. Her tattered clothes hung on her emaciated body. Her hair was matted, her eyes sunken, her cheeks hollow. She cast a longing look at Priya's lunch box and asked, "Are you going to throw the food? Can you give it to me instead?"
The question jolted Priya. Here was a grl so hungry that she waited for crumbs. Such was her misfortune. And there was she, Priya, who wasted good food! She gave the waif her food and said, " I will bring you food every day."

"Really?" asked the waif in disbelief.
"Really," promised Priya.

That proved to be the turning point. "If you like the food, relish it. If not, be grateful that you get food to eat," preached Priya, with new-found wisdom Isn't it sinful to waste food, Aunt Ammu?" she asked of the aged relative, whom she had taken into her confidence.
"Absolutely right!" agreed  Aunt  Ammu.