THE ALL KNOWING
AND ME
Please don’t take
me wrong. By all knowing I do not mean the Almighty. I mean a friend of mine
who has a knack for raising questions and seeking answers for them. Yesterday
night at about 10 p m he arrived without any notice as usual. Well friends need
not give notice but then there is some etiquette. I fear him as much as I respect
him. Fear, because he can drop-in any time and respect because as I said he is
all knowing.
To cut it short,
he knocked at the door and called me by name and I had no option but to open
the door. Before I could offer him a seat he shot – do you know what is the
space between the eyebrows is called? I said I duuno. He said –what is the
metallic or plastic end of the shoelaces is called? I said I dunno. He asked –what
is cry of a new born is called? I said –cry. He said wrong! He asked what is
the dot on an i or a j is called. I said –dot. He said wrong. He asked many
such questions and I had no answers. He castigated me for my lack of knowledge
even though I call myself an educated person. I offered him a cup of tea in the
meanwhile, anyway.
Long back,
travelling in a Mini Bus in Kolkata the school girls sitting on the row before
me were chatting. One of them said it is not at all necessary to know everything.
For example if we want to know the trains between Kolkata and Delhi we can find
out from the Railway Time table or enquiry when we go. No use knowing things
that we do not or may not need.
She had a point. It’s better to know what is actually
essential. As it is becoming tough to pass the exams, why increase the load?
But it was
different with this all knowing friend of mine. Every time he met me he made
feel inferior. There was so much to know and so little I know. I thought enough
is enough and I must confront him in one of these days.
He turned up one
evening and as usual asked what the oldest language in the world is? For a
change it is Tamil but I said Mother tongue. As expected he said wrong. I
countered-no, I am right. The oldest language cannot be other than mother tongue.
The first mother in this planet talked to her first born in a language that no
one knew but the child understood it. It has continued since then. The mother
and child speak in a language which is oldest, eternal and universal. How can
any other language claim that position?
He has not visited
me again since then. Now what is my fault?
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