Ever wondered why as kids we were taught moral sciences (that’s what its called in India)..….Probably to make sure that we grow up to be ethically sound, mentally strong, and morally proficient individuals. Would this theoretically based knowledge on moral issues make us better individuals is a question which is a different concern altogether and is left for time to answer!!!
As kids when we were enlightened about any topic, the strict/implied instructions so to say, would be to memorize and remember what was being taught…..not to look deep into the matter….just take what we were being endowed with, since, our reasoning power was close to being non-existent and YET during exams the questions would be so ludicrous that it would make us do exactly what was not insinuated (aka to analyze)! As a second grade kid, confused about what I was learning and what was to make and conclude out of what I was being exposed to and expected to understand and practice in life…I was once posed this question….the only question I vividly remember as the answer to it was considered to be the funniest and the most innocent answer by my family….WHAT IS A PRAYER? Now does this question deal with morality or with religiousness? Was the school trying to make us bend towards God or making us comprehend that only if we answer a basic question as this would we end up becoming true religious practitioners!!??? Unable to make any sense of the question I wrote what a second grade uncomplicated untwisted brain would have finally decided to answer…..A PRAYER IS A PRAYER!!! Isn’t that simple and perfectly explicable?? Probably I felt that my mentors were fools to have asked such a simple question that had no explanation whatsoever except for what I wrote so I was elated and confident that I couldn’t have made a mistake in my “Explanation” for a prayer…..alas….my family didn’t think so as they burst out into peels of laughter on hearing what I had to say and the news of my “Brilliant” and “gutsy” answer spread like forest fire to everyone possible. Was there something to have been swollen with pride about?? Well...looking at the reactions I received, I think I did feel a slight heaviness in my head which wore off the next time I unintentionally committed a foolish act….just 20 some years later though!!!
My close encounters with the American world….the word usage…..the implied meanings….the actual meanings…..the alphabet pronunciation….such as H which here is AEEEH ….sort of like stretched out like when u try and teach a kid who cant speak.....was something I had to adapt to as they would wear me down making me repeat myself endlessly if I behaved obdurate! Not only have I been fortunate in making my family roll in laughter as a kid but also my friends when I was kid + 20years!! Spelling out my last name which almost has all the 26 alphabets in it was torturous (considering it is Krishnamoorthy) with “K” as in Kate, “R”as in Robert…..blah blah….and then finally when it came to “T” I couldn’t think of anything and ended up spurting “ T” as in “TEA” …..HAH....that really helped the representative I was speaking to, to exactly interpret which alphabet I was referring to with my Indian accent to the hard core American ears!!!
Consider it a blunder....an OOPS situation when you end up acting silly after 20+ years of your life, especially in front of your friends coz that becomes your identity for years to come whenever such scenarios are reiterated.
Its happened once…..happened again….to complete the trilogy I am expecting myself to act foolishly yet another time after possibly another 20years.....or before??….a BIG gap for a BIGGER mishap!!!