The Table of Nineteen

I recently had the opportunity of volunteering as a teacher for a charitable school.
I spent my first Saturday with class IV. I started out with a casual conversation in my attempt to know the students better. Within minutes i knew that the kid in the first row was different.
I could see a twinkle in the small eyes that showed the desire to become someone when he grew up. He wants to be an engineer one day.

I told him that he must excel in maths for that. He told me how he knew tables of all numbers till 20 in English and Telugu. I couldn't resist asking him to recite the table of 19. I had no way of checking if he made any mistakes. ( I do not know the table of 19) but he sounded correct.

I wonder why life makes some of us work harder than the others.
Like they say - a chunk of coal must go through enormous pressure before it becomes a diamond.
I hope this one diamond shines on....

Luck...

An email told me that i won't be going to my preferred MBA college this year.
Another time i had reached within inches of making it and then failed.

I was really angry...at no one in particular....
After twenty minutes of crying over the unfairness of life i went to the next room to get something where my friend was working on the laptop.

On the stark black background of her screen were bold silver letters that read
'Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck'.

Suddenly it didnt seem like the end..

Sick and sick some more!

First I got sick with flue. Fever, body ache and the likes.
Then i got sick of being home alone.
Then i got sick of watching TV and wasting time over the internet.
But so far the most sick i have been is because of listening to people and their advise for getting better.

'Take antibiotics'
'Have hot milk'
'Sit in the sun'
'Get as much sleep as possible'

It may seem that my health has become an issue of national importance.
But on the contrary i think Indians just love to give advice.
Be it a colleague buying a new bike or be it a friend sending flowers to his girlfriend. We can be counted to have some new idea to add to the dilemma.


I know i do it too. But I wonder what is the pleasure that we get from it all.
Maybe the next time i feel like sharing my uninvited inputs with someone i will hold my advise and see what happens...
And in the meantime u guys r free to guide me with the 'Do's and Don'ts for an irritated soul'