It's Friday, the 7th of August and the time is 11 am. It's bright outside with a clear blue sky above, and a bright green carpet of growth below.

Sunshine has just fallen into a deep sleep. He is tired from a hectic three hours of breakfast, visit to the cross, watching the traffic on the CHOGM road, and best of all, strolling along the village footpaths. He has done it all and is quite likely reliving it in a pleasant dream.

At least, his dad, Joao Anton de Marna, can settle down with the newspaper. Sunshine has kept him so busy, that he is still reading yesterday's GT. He has worked his way to the editorial page where he sees Manoj Borkar's article, "Functional Controversy of the Human Breast". Normally, he would have just skimmed through it, but this is "Breast Feeding Week". Dad is compelled to read it by some vague workings of his conscience, which tells him he must do something for the Breast Feeding Week.

He is immediately struck by the sentence: The word 'Mama' is among the first few words uttered by the young and is the Latin equivalent of the English word "breast". Those were the first sounds made by Sunshine, and what's more, Sunshine is an authority on breast feeding. He has been doing it long enough. Dad and Mum have no regrets since sunshine is doing very well, thank you very much.

Who needs Nestle or Glaxo or any of the other MNCs who have been robbing infants and their parents for decades? The former have been robbed of their birth-right and the latter of their hard-earned money. What a rip-off in the name of science and research!

Joao Anton de Marna cannot begin to comprehend how so-called educated people can fall for these gimmicks. Now he is thinking aloud about all the good points of Breast Feeding as he counts them out.

Firstly, the milk has all the right ingredients in the right proportion. Secondly, it's maintained at the right temperature. Thirdly, it is manufactured in a sterile atmosphere, with no danger of adulteration by accident or design. Fourthly, it's not handled by intermediaries.

Fifthly, it's stored safely so the cat can't get it. Sixthly, it comes in such attractive containers. No nasty tins, which are non-bio-degradable. No tetrapacks and polyethylene bags that litter the landscape. No milk bottles or silicone nipples. No need for sterilisation. Lastly, and very importantly, it's relatively cheap. So it's a weapon against inflation.

Dad looks out the window and sees a lot of butterflies looking for flowers and mates. Not necessarily in that order. He is reminded of how Sunshine was imitating the butterflies this morning. Flapping his arms up and down in his fancy of flight.

It was then that the thunderbolt struck Joao Anton de Marna. For some strange reason he saw, in his mind's eye, the number 2008. At first it was all very nebulous. Then it began to take shape like the creation of a galaxy in fast forward. And Sunshine was the brightest star in that galaxy.

The year is 2008. Sunshine is 17 years old and the Olympics are being staged in New Delhi. Sunshine has just won two gold medals in the swimming events-the Breast Stroke and the Butterfly Stroke.