Still the missis

Let me assure you wonderful people out there that I love and care for my husband with the intensity of a Juliet. This does not mean that I believe he is a profound thinker. Juliet, to the best of my knowledge, never expected Romeo to come up with the Theory of Relativity or write a seminal work on diffferential calculus. Indeed, she would have freaked out if he HAD done something like that. So I merely raise my eyebrows when he presents an example of his goofiness and let it pass. But today, he made me shake my head slowly from side to side and look heavenward as if in silent prayer. The reason is this joke he made up. I overheard him telling it to the kids. Here it is, in its entirety. Judge for your self.

Once upon a time there lived a boy who had a troublesome poltergeist in his closet. It kept flinging everything around and ripping up things kept in that closet.

The boy was tired of its pranks and tried everything to get rid of it. He even hired a psychic to talk to the ghost and persuade it to go away. The psychic talked and talked, offering all kinds of lures and goodies, but to no avail.

One day, as he was studying for his Hindi exams, he suddenly got a brainwave. He ran to the kitchen and fixed a nice hot steaming cup of coffee, topped with foaming milk, and kept it in the closet.

As he shut the doors, he heard a loud slurping sound which continued for a few minutes and then stopped. He opened the closet doors expectantly and found the cup empty. The coffee was all gone!

He smiled to himself and went back to his studies. He knew that the ghost would bother him no more. Because he had read in his Hindi textbook

Latte ke bhoot baaton se nahin maantein.