Enlightened schoolboys, exasperated teachers

One of my more educated young readers sent me this link today. It's about how ever brighter our kids are becoming at school, in this era of total freedom and Facebook. I found it a fine piece of black humour. Do let me know how it struck you.

Biggest fool of all

The emperor Akbar once made a huge advance payment to a horse trader from distant Persia for bringing him a large number of the finest horses he could find. The man took the money and vanished, never to be heard of again. Sometime later, the badshah asked Birbal to draw up a list of the biggest fools in the kingdom. Birbal dutifully complied, but left the top two places unfilled. When Akbar asked him why, he first sought protection from royal ire, then said he would like to put the emperor's name at the number two position, because he trusted complete strangers from faraway places with large amounts of money. Though rattled, Akbar could not help laughing in agreement. Then he asked the obvious question. Birbal replied, 'Jahanpanah, I should like to put myself in the top slot, because I have chosen to serve someone like you!'

I sometimes draw up such a mental list myself, me holding the top slot for choosing to spend a lifetime trying to teach my jahanpanah, the public...

Too serious to be funny?

It is said about Antony in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra that "he was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden/ A Roman thought had struck him". I too have just been struck by a 'Roman thought'. Perhaps it is because my image is too deeply set as a solemn sort of person that too few of my readers visit this blog, and even if they do, feel uneasy about commenting on it?

If that were true, it would be sad indeed. I daresay a lot of people cannot accept the whimsical side of my character, and either haven't noticed or haven't bothered to reflect upon what I intended when I put up that quote from Bertrand Russell as a fixture on the right hand sidebar...

to see oursels as ithers see us...

A 15-year old drew the above cartoon at my behest in class. Do let me know how you liked it, everybody!

Those who are mystified by the title, look this up.