I remember a small girl. Exceptionally bright and naughty. I think in every primary school’s exam they follow the same pattern of sitting arrangement. One junior and one senior on a single bench. That naughty girl was in fifth class. Beside her, another tiny tot of third standard used to sit. The naughty girl often completed the exam of every subject in record time. What did she do with the extra time in hand? During exam there was not much scope for mischief. So she turned her full concentration on the tiny tot, sitting beside her. After solving her own papers, she “helped” the tiny tot.
That girl moved on to senior wing of the same school. The naughty girl had not changed much. One day she was stopped in her tracks by another girl.
“Didi, can you recognize me?”
“I have seen you somewhere. Right now I can not place you.”
“Remember, I was sitting beside you, when I was in third standard.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“You helped me in almost each and every paper.”
“Hummm…”
“Didi, due to that I secured first rank in the class. I never attained even 15th rank before that.”
“Was it really so?”
“Yes. But getting first rank in the class was so invigorating, that I started studying very hard. And I still maintain my rank in each succeeding class.”
That naughty girl and now not so tiny tot had a hearty laugh!
A smile too plays on my lips whenever I remember that naughty girl and her mischief.
