[This is purely an act of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Content designed may provide helpful information on the subjects discussed along with presentations/illustrations for highlighting the plight of an aggrieved. The author assumes no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents. Any resemblance to persons living or dead may be purely coincidental]
With credits to Prasun Chakraborty
I think, therefore I am – Descartes
I was on my way back home from the site office, where construction of an airport was underway on the outskirts of a capital city of a State in India. On the way was my uncle's house and decided to pay my cousin a visit, that was long due. My uncle departed for his heavenly abode a couple of years before the mandemic and left the house to his only son who stayed there with his wife and son. As I was entering the house, there was an air of melancholy, that was very unusual of the house that used to be very lively and the boisterous kid always being a jovial prankster. The uncanny environs was beginning to eat into me.
It was a beautiful and well maintained double storied house with a small lawn in the front and a kitchen garden in the back. Upon entering, my cousin was seen constantly scolding his son. Why? He had almost failed in his Class 4 final examinations, in a subject that was his mother's favourite. His poor performance led to a parents' call by the head of the institution to discuss on the child's future relationship with the School. My cousin wasn't too comfortable with the humiliation that would unfold in the chamber of the head. It was decided that the lady of the house would do the honours. It was the paper of the vernacular subject that he just managed to pass with grace.
Upon a closer examination of the paper, the furious teacher, who was assisting the head of the institution, was blaring out at a high volume on what the child had written carelessly in the answer script. He was found faulty on multiple counts. There was a poem where the poet had described a very small boy. All undertaking the examinations in that paper had to write the poem in full. Now, my cousin's son wrote the entire poem correctly, just ignoring the very part for which he had credible explanations for his actions. Upon being asked as to why he would daringly omit that word, he replied, “I'm not a very small boy but undoubtedly, a small boy”. He told then that whenever he visited his neighbour who was gifted with a new born son, her mother would say “look, dada has come”. Definitely so, he wasn't the very small boy but the new born. So the word very was omitted with elan and, in his adolescent mind, had no doubts about his actions about unappreciative stunning answers.
Another question was to write an essay on the bravery of a much revered demi God who could cross a flooded river. This was taught in the class, with the teacher ensuring that none committed error(s). Now our super intelligent boy of 10 years wrote that all that was written in the book as impossible to achive as he was a witness to a recent flood situation that engulfed the city partially. He had seen that there was water everywhere with no land to be seen. Vast areas went underwater and with the mighty river in spate, it wasn't even possible to cross the river in a mechanised boat. That was not what the examiner ever wanted. The truth would carry wrong signals to all. All that this child wrote was contrarian to popular topical beliefs and bookish knowledge that was religiously inscribed and, taught timelessly in all schools.
It was asked, in which season do we get cabbage to which he replied – all seasons. The teacher couldn't be less furious. He looked straight into the mother's face, who was seated in utter shame and fear of the consequences in wordless eternity for the verdict to be out and the ordeal ended. Cabbage was cooked almost round the year in the household much to his dislike and thus, penned his answer that it was available throughout the year!
Upon narrating all such incorrect innovative answers, the now already perplexed teacher and the harried head, asked my cousin's wife to keep him engaged as his mind was going astray from text books to other thoughts, else his performance wouldn't ever improve. They were considering his promotion to the next higher class for the time but wouldn't if he kept on performing at such levels with his out of the box answers that bore no parity with what was taught in classroom. Smartphone was obviously an option that never could be tolerated use for a kid of his age. The mother apologised for his son's demeanour and vowed that it would never repeat again. She thanked them for the penultimate chance was given for improvement.
While at home, my brother who was anxiously waiting and pacing up and down the rooms with greater impatience, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them getting of the rickshaw, with his wife constantly scolding the child. In the melee that ensued, she had even forgotten to pay the fare to the rickshaw-puller who shouted at them to pay up.
After they had freshened up, she narrated the self-conscious solipsism acts of their son. It was difficult for my cousin to decide whether to be angry with his son or laugh out aloud! It was the mother who wanted her son to pick up the language as his mother tongue that was meekly agreed upon to preserve sanity and peace at home. After hearing out the two, my cousin flared up on results of experimentation with the vernacular language and his further experimenting with it in search of truth.
Faced with steep humiliation and disgrace, as a next step, he suggested to pull him out of that school affiliated to the State board of education and put him in a school with CBSE affiliation where he'd learn karengey ladengey marengey and what not! The language would even help him communicate with others later and help on the job front. He was enrolled in various after school classes to keep him heavily engaged so that the childish mind never strayed. Such engagement was thought as a remedy to his nipped answers that dipped scores.
Comments
Post a Comment