Why Abhishek hates Mathematics?

When I was 8, my mother gave me 75 paise. It was a small fortune then. The money was strictly meant to buy a pencil and an eraser. I fancied the idea of going to the stationery shop near my school. The moment also celebrated my mother's firm belief in me. After all, I'd be carrying money with me- For the first time! Those 2 shiny little coins in my pocket made me feel proud!

My fantasy was shattered when I saw the shop being closed on that day. I waited till my school short interval time hoping that it would open later. During this wait, a sweetmeat cart, which was parked nearby the shop caught my attention. I saw the berries, guavas, the peppermint candy, the mint candy and all other eligible items of a push cart. My mouth watered at the sight of the berries being wrapped up in a small piece of newspaper, with salt sprinkled over it, shaken wisely and packed, and given to those 'lucky pupils'.

Like any other kid, I too was tempted to buy those goodies. However, I wasn't sure about the price of a pencil and an eraser. I wondered if I will have enough money left to buy those goodies. Standing before the sweetmeat cart, I kept my palms in my little knicker pockets and stared at the guavas- of all shapes and sizes and the glass bottles where the peppermint candies were kept. Then, I took out my coins. The 50 paise coin had Indira Gandhi, the 25 paise coin had a rhinoceros, embossed on it. My heart was beating fast. Questions erupted in my mind. What will I tell mother? Can I confess that I was very hungry and hence ate berries, guava and peppermint candies? (Despite the fact that I was carrying my lunch box too) What if I still manage to buy a pencil and also those candies? Will she ask me to explain the calculation? Will she thrash me for this horrifying act of mine?

I ran back to my classroom, opened the last page of my notebook and did some subtraction. With a pencil stub, I wrote 75-30= 45; 75-25= 50 and so on. I assumed the cost of pencil and eraser together to be 50 paise and I would still still be left with 25 paise. I went on doing this calculation, till I analyzed that whatever I spend towards goodies, I can still buy a pencil and eraser. I came back to the sweetmeat cart and gave the 'rhinoceros coin' to the seller. He chopped a juicy guava , dipped the knife in salt and smeared it all over inside the fruit and gave it to me. I wolfed it down.

During lunch time, I went to check the stationery shop and yet again found it closed. This time, my lips smacked at the sight of those salted berries. I again ran back to my classroom, opened the last page of my notebook and judiciously calculated till I was forced to drop the idea of purchasing an eraser. I thought I'd still be left with 35 paise, good enough to buy a pencil. I ran excitedly towards the seller and gave him the 'Indira Gandhi coin'. He gave me a juicy little packet containing salted berries, but to my horror he also gave me an old rusty 20 paise coin. He told me that the price of berries was 30 paise! I didn't knew what to do? I felt as if I had lost a gold coin, a souvenir. It looked as if I lost a huge amount of money. The Indira Gandhi coin was gone, and in return I got an ugly 20 paise coin that threatened to wash my dirty linen in public.

Eating those berries, I tried to cook some believable reasons, that I thought can put my mother at ease. I thought I'd tell amma that I was damn hungry and my lunch box wasn't sufficient. Or I'd say I wanted to taste those goodies, but never realized the cost etc. Nevertheless, I also had to remember the calculations, and explain how I had spent 75-55 paise= 20 paise Till evening, my cerebellum and cerebrum was involved in calculations- Namely, Addition and Subtraction. Mathematics during Social studies class, Mathematics during P.T etc. And all those calculations narrowed down to 20 paise.

By the time the school was over for the day, I trotted back towards the sweetmeat cart. I thought I'd go and ask him the price of each peppermint candy. I learned that it costed 5 paise each. I suddenly realized my assertiveness(Read: Dumb or nincompoop) and explicitly asked him to give me 2 peppermint candies. Of course, in return, I also got an old Aluminum made 10 paise coin with no beauty. I was too tired to recollect the total Hisaab of the day. However, I blissfully devoured those peppermint candies at regular intervals on my way back home!

What happened once I reached home? How did I confront my mother? How did she react to my debut spending? What explanation did I gave her for pencil and eraser? Was I able to justify the exact calculation?

I'd leave the readers to ponder. Perhaps, the title of this article suggests- any body's guess!

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