My mode of daily transport to school is by auto. It's a unique experience in itself, you know. Not to mention funny. Seriously, if you travelled in an auto with three eight-year-olds (and two other big kids) life's got be funny sometimes.
I'm the first person the "auto-uncle" picks up every morning and I'm the last one to get off, so I see pretty much everything there is to see. My entry into the auto is very dramatic. A junior once commented that I looked like "White Riding Hood"! I have a white scarf tied around my head in the morning, the reason being that I am prone to ENT problems.
Next, the three kids. The kid who is picked up after me is a BIG Know-it-all...and the way he totally squashes the other two with his "worldly" observations makes me snigger to myself. The next kid is nice, but totally dense. Things have to be repeated at least thrice for him to understand. In addition to this, he is also irrepressibly curious. Imagine that combo!
The third kid is a girl who keeps us waiting for atleast fifteen minutes (on an average, she's kept us for twenty minutes at times) and always succeeds in blowing the collective fuses of not only the "auto-uncle" but the rest of the auto as well.
The way they argue and ask questions about silly little things is really funny, to me as a "much wiser and experienced girl", at least that's what they think I am. But their typical childish conversation always reminds me of my childhood, when apparently trivial things were very important and childish alliances were something to be very proud of. Their slapstick jokes, their anxious questions and eternal awe at my stage in life is extremely amusing...
Some funny conversations
Here are a few conversational snippets that made me laugh.
We had a "guest" for a couple of months. She was quite a sharp girl and was great pals-and-enemies-alternately with the "waiting" girl. One day, she asked each one of the other two a question in addition. (the third kid came along later). The know-it-all, of course, could answer all them correctly. She then went on to the waiting girl and asked her a few. The last question was asked.The waiting girl, not very good at Maths, didn't know what to say. In retaliation, she fired a hard (!) question at the other girl: "What is 16 plus 16?"The other girl did not know the answer but did not want to admit defeat in front of this one. So she replied "16 plus 16 is nothing. It's zero!"At this point in time, I looked at the other girl to see what she would say to this audacious reply. Would she laugh and scoff loudly or would she poke fun at the other for not answering it correctly?To my astonishment, she nodded her head sagely and said "That's correct"The waiting girl did not know the answer either!!!
Here's another. A fifth-class boy, travelling in our auto, was sitting up front with the auto-uncle and was discussing with him about the then-prevalent Chikungunya disease. These kids, having hit a momentary silent phase, listened to it without quite understanding what the older boy was saying. A few moments later, the sharp girl and the waiting girl both began to argue and the argument had reached a stage of extreme anger.I must explain something at this point in time. The waiting girl's family are Jains, who are pure vegetarians. They do not touch meat, so the girl must have been taught that meat is dirty and polluting. It was the height of insult to her to call someone "chicken" or "mutton". According to very twisted logic, she meant to convey her hate and disgust for something by comparing it to meat.So, she called the other sharp girl "chicken" and "mutton". The other girl was quick to retaliate and, as a result of the unconsciously absorbed conversation up front, said "You're Chikungunya!" I think we must have scared passers-by by suddenly bursting into maniacal laughter!
There are countless such instances and I suspect I shall spend the next few posts relating them...I can never stop laughing when I think about my young friends and their "auto conversations"!
We had a "guest" for a couple of months. She was quite a sharp girl and was great pals-and-enemies-alternately with the "waiting" girl. One day, she asked each one of the other two a question in addition. (the third kid came along later). The know-it-all, of course, could answer all them correctly. She then went on to the waiting girl and asked her a few. The last question was asked.The waiting girl, not very good at Maths, didn't know what to say. In retaliation, she fired a hard (!) question at the other girl: "What is 16 plus 16?"The other girl did not know the answer but did not want to admit defeat in front of this one. So she replied "16 plus 16 is nothing. It's zero!"At this point in time, I looked at the other girl to see what she would say to this audacious reply. Would she laugh and scoff loudly or would she poke fun at the other for not answering it correctly?To my astonishment, she nodded her head sagely and said "That's correct"The waiting girl did not know the answer either!!!
Here's another. A fifth-class boy, travelling in our auto, was sitting up front with the auto-uncle and was discussing with him about the then-prevalent Chikungunya disease. These kids, having hit a momentary silent phase, listened to it without quite understanding what the older boy was saying. A few moments later, the sharp girl and the waiting girl both began to argue and the argument had reached a stage of extreme anger.I must explain something at this point in time. The waiting girl's family are Jains, who are pure vegetarians. They do not touch meat, so the girl must have been taught that meat is dirty and polluting. It was the height of insult to her to call someone "chicken" or "mutton". According to very twisted logic, she meant to convey her hate and disgust for something by comparing it to meat.So, she called the other sharp girl "chicken" and "mutton". The other girl was quick to retaliate and, as a result of the unconsciously absorbed conversation up front, said "You're Chikungunya!" I think we must have scared passers-by by suddenly bursting into maniacal laughter!
There are countless such instances and I suspect I shall spend the next few posts relating them...I can never stop laughing when I think about my young friends and their "auto conversations"!
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