And so she wished me a good afternoon...

     I enter class 6 in one of my schools. Generally, in all the classes, in all the schools, kids are taught to say, "Good moooorniiiiiiing siiiiiirrrr...." and, when they are asked to sit down, "thaaaank youuuuu siiiiirrr..." What it interesting is that in most classes, in most schools, the kids are not aware of what it actually means. picture this: in several classes, i ask the kids, "Good morning ka kya matlab hota hai?"  (what is the meaning of good morning?)

"Uthna, sir." (to stand up, sir)

"Aur, thank you ka?" (and, thank you means?)

"Baithna, sir." (to sit, sir)

This is not a case of one or two classes, in one or two schools. This response is almost universal. Well, so much for the right of every kid to be 'Educated'.

     Anyway, coming back... Yes, so, i enter class 6 in one of my schools. As i enter, the kids stand up and wish me good afternoon. But, amidst the united babbling, i hear something funny. It is evident that the kids are not yet accustomed to saying 'good afternoon' (you see, the school timings have just changed and now the classes extend beyond noon. Earlier the classes would get over by 1 and there was no real need for the kids to know that afternoon meant...).

     I ask them to repeat what they just said and they do. Again, i hear something funny. It came from a girl to my right, in the front row. Just to make absolutely sure that i heard the right thing, i go to her and ask her, "kya kaha tumne?" (what did you say?)

"Good item, sir," she says. With confidence.