I.P. Adhikari
One day, the new teacher drew to straight lines on the blackboard. The upper line was longer than the lower.
“Sabari, do tell me; can you shorten the upper line without touching it?” he asked all of a sudden. The question put Sabari in confusion. All other students in the class were at loss too, and looked straight on the blackboard.
“Raman, can you tell how?” said the teacher, looking towards the boy who held first position in the class. He also looked left and right, and shook his head, meaning ‘no’.
“How about you: Koili Devi, Devyani, Gaurav? Can any of you try?” the teacher asked, one after another. The bright ones in the class showed nothing but blankness on their faces. I stormed by brain for a long time, but to no use. I enjoyed the question, though its difficulty was quite apparent. I was impatient to know when my teacher would solve the riddle.
“But I am not telling you the answer,” said the teacher, adding fuel to my impatience.
“O, what is our teacher saying? He asks the question, but denies telling the answer,” said every one of us, whispering among ourselves.
‘What if our teacher doesn’t tell? I shall find out asking my parents or uncle at home,’ I thought.
“You might be thinking that you would take help from others. You are not allowed to do that,” ruled our teacher, ending up our last hope in hand. “You might bring the answer when you get it, but do not take help,” he said again.
I was, to some extent, angry with my teacher. I considered his instruction similar to telling a thirsty man, “Do not ask water from others; do not make your own well, either.”
After the school was over, Sabari and I were walking homeward. Someone called us from the rear, all of a sudden, “O, little ones! Wait.” But we continued to move on, feigning not to have heard.
“Dwarfs! Didn’t you hear that I asked you to wait?” said the voice again. Sabari came to a sudden halt, and turned back. I too stopped. The one to call us so rudely was none but Raman, the first boy of our class.
Sabari was red with anger. I asked her, “How could a classmate of ours in the sixth grade call us ‘dwarfs’?”
“How dare you call us ‘dwarfs’? Have you forgotten our names as well?” Sabari roared.
“Cool down. Would you love to have chocolates? Shall I buy you some?” he boasted, trying to appease us.
“Eat them yourself. We don’t want any of those stuffs,” said Sabari, answering bluntly.
“Are you jealous of my first position in the class?” he said.
“No; why should we be jealous? Be the first boy ever; we have our best wishes. If you were so brilliant, how come you could not answer our teacher’s riddle about shortening the line without touching it?” said Sabari, answering back aptly. Raman could speak no further. After walking silently for some time, our ways diverged.
Raman was so proud of being the first position holder. He thought as if he were the only boy to hold that position on earth. Whenever we extended our hands to shake with his, he would hold it so tight that tears would almost roll out of our eyes, though we seldom uttered ‘ouch!’ However, none could do him any harm.
One day, I told Sabari, “It’s too much, Sabari! How long can we go tolerating all this? Come what may; I want to box him and teach a lesson.”
“That’s wrong! Why should we be fighting? That will set you a bad record, Gaurav. Do not poke him. Think of a means to teach him a lesson, without touching him,” suggested Sabari.
“Teach him a lesson without touching? How?” I asked curiously. “Should I then ask other boys to beat him?”
“No; that’s wrong. You boys always think of beating one another to solve problems. There are other means as well. Why should you go and irk him, instead of concentrating on your works?”
“My work? What do you mean?” I asked back.
“Yes, studying. Try hard so that you hold the first position,” Sabari said, like a guardian.
I thought our teacher’s idea of shortening a line without a touch and Sabari’s idea of dealing with Raman without laying a hand upon were alike.
I then started thinking how we could deal with Raman. At last, an idea struck my mind. I would silently inform my teacher about Raman’s pranks. That would be the best, for I would neither need to beat him myself, nor need to employ boys to do so.”
But no! My mind would not accept this idea. I was afraid that my teacher would charge me, “Why did you come here to report, instead of studying?”
Raman’s behavior urged me to take revenge. As advised by Sabari, I started studying very hard. I slashed my television time. I also stopped going to market frequently. I used all my time in studying lessons and practicing exercises, accept the hours I used in helping my parents, and playing.
The school soon organized sports program. I also took part in some. I did not win any, but taking part brought me a great satisfaction. I did not find Raman taking part in any event. He must have felt quite sour at heart.
Soon the annual examination was over. Sabari happened to top the class this time. Koili Devi was second; I happened to be the third. Raman was pushed down to the fifth position. He must have felt really bad on being pushed from the top to the firth rank.
Raman came to me willy-nilly with a ‘hello!’, stretching his hand to shake. But today, he did not press it hard to inflict any pain. “I congratulate you,” he said to Sabari in a pathetic tone, and walked away clumsily.
“Did you see, Gaurav! He used to take himself to be the wisest of all. We defeated him with our labor. His pride has fallen today. We did not need to quarrel to teach him a lesson. He got corrected on his own,” said Sabari, explaining the case to me.
I was touched by Sabari’s claim: “We defeated him with our labor.” I repeated the sentence to myself with stress: “We defeated him with our labor.”
I found an answer to my teacher’s riddle. The long line had been shortened without a touch.
[IP Adhikari is a senior writer of children’s literature and an expert of library science. He has more than half a dozen of books to his credit, consisting of works for children, and theoretical and research works on library science. At present, he is the Director of the Central Library, Tribhuvan University. ]