An 11 year old South Indian boy Ramesh Iyer shifted to Mumbai from Rameshwaram. During his first drawing class at school, the students were told to draw the railway tracks. The drawing teacher went out for 20 minutes after giving them the assignment.
This boy wondered for sometime how to draw it and looks out of the window. In the next building, workers were painting the outer wall standing on a wooden ladder. The boy immediately got an idea.
He places his drawing paper in a horizontal manner and drew a ladder diagonally from one corner to another. The teacher returned to the class. This boy kept looking at the ladder outside, continuously.
After commenting about the performances of the other kids, the teacher came to see the work of this boy. When he saw the boy’s work, he asked, “What did I tell you to draw? And what have you done?”
The kid replied, “I have drawn a railway track only.”
The teacher told him, “You saw that ladder and have drawn one too. Where is the train?”
The kid turned the paper in such a way that the ladder looked horizontal and told the teacher, “I have drawn a long track. Did you say how the paper should be kept while drawing?”
The teacher said, “When you hear the words ‘railway tracks’ there should be a train. Where is the train? Everybody else has drawn one. You haven’t.”
The kid replied, “This track comes from Delhi to Mumbai. Since there is heavy fog there, the train is late due to visibility issues.”
The teacher got angry, “When everybody kept the paper straight, why did you place it differently? Did I tell you to keep the paper diagonal?”
The kid said, “Cool down, Sir. Like the Pamban Palam lifts itself, when the ship passes under it, this track has also lifted itself so that people can move under it. I have done the right thing because people will not die while crossing the tracks if the tracks can lift themselves.”
The Principal had just entered the class and was listening to the conversation. The Principal asked, “Where is that kind of track? When was it constructed?”
The teacher said, “I am going to give you only 0 marks for this.”
The kid said, “This will come in 1945. (Sic)”
The Principal asked, “Have you mentioned the year there?”
The kid replied, “I don’t have to write anything on it. It has been already mentioned on the paper.”
He showed the page number written in large print at one corner of the paper. He was not in the know that he was supposed to get a drawing sheet for this assignment. He had actually torn a sheet from his drawing note.
The Principal gave the kid 100/100 and took away the drawing sheet. The teacher sat down on his seat stunned!
The next day the sheet was displayed on the notice board with a note about this incident. Many students were seen standing in front of the notice board reading it. Today, not just parents but also teachers need to be careful, while talking to children.