THE DONKEY-WORK
Pic.: Pradeep Nanda
“If Jesus were here today, he wouldn't be
riding around on a donkey.
He'd be taking a plane, he'd be using the
media.”
Today,
I was teaching my twelfth-standard students, in my early morning batch (HSC
Board). Unlike the ISC-Board students, the HSC-Board students are not allowed
to use calculators. So, today’s kids you see… They are so used to machines and gadgets
for quick results; their mind is simply not willing to buy the idea that they
have to use it… to become sharp and smart. When I was like them, calculators were seen as a luxury. I rarely saw anyone using them even in offices, leave alone
in schools and colleges.
So, we had to use our mind… think in order to add, subtract,
multiply and divide. For a Commerce student, it was deemed to be a basic skill
which had to be honed. Our teachers taught us various simple and short-cut
methods to do complicated arithmetic. For example, if we had to divide between
A and B a profit of Rs. 80,040 in 5:3 ratio, we did like this, by visualization.
First, we divided Rs.80, 000 mentally and obtained Rs.50, 000 and Rs.30, 000 respectively.
Next, we divided Rs. 40 and obtained Rs.25 and Rs.15 respectively. Finally, we
mentally added the two results to obtain the final result i.e., Rs.50, 025 and
Rs.30, 015 respectively. Similarly, when we had to divide Rs. 79,992 in the
same ratio, we used the same trick: First we divided Rs.80, 000 and obtained
Rs.50, 000 and Rs.30, 000 respectively; next, we divided Rs.8 to obtain Rs.5
and Rs.3 respectively, Finally, we deducted the second result from the first to
obtain the final result, i.e., Rs.49, 995 and Rs.29, 997 respectively.
And, believe me, all this would happen automatically in our
minds… Because, we grew up doing it. Our mind was attuned to such calculations.
But, here in Mumbai, even after attending several
short-cut classes such as Vedic Maths, UC Maths or Mid-Brain something etc.,
our young-ones still search for the calcie on their cell-phones. Because, that’s
how their mind is attuned to think… fast, without even thinking or strain!
Therefore, imagine the torture and dilemma of these HSC
and CBSC kids who are not allowed to touch calcies to find how much is 3 plus
2! You should see their faces to believe it… They simply curse their fate…
that, they are not allowed to use the calcie for calculations!
Everyday as I see the plight of my students, I smile and
tell myself: Have loads of patience, sir. They have come from Mars and you are
from Venus. It’s okay… It’s okay. Chill.
Thus,
this morning, in our twelfth-standard batch, when we had a figure of Rs. 40,005
to be divided in 3:2 ratio, I could see the strain on the face of Kevin. He was
stressed out. I was smiling as I was watching him and his friends. “Pure donkey
work… Asli gadha mazdoori”, I was
thinking aloud… and, then, I taught them, without even touching the board, as
to how we as kids would do it. And, instantly, I could see Kevin’s face
lighting up!
“Kevin, can you tell me why that smile?” I asked him.
“So simple the calculation can be sir,” Kevin put it
quickly.
“Yes!!!!” Kevin’s friends joined.
“So, dudes, what is the moral of the story?” I asked.
“We should stop doing the donkey work, sir,” the moral
was unanimous, “the gadha mazdoori!”
It is
2 in the afternoon, and, I am still smiling!
GERALD D’CUNHA
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