A teacher teaching Maths to
seven-year-old Laiq asked him, “If I give you one apple and one apple and one
apple, how many apples will you have?” Within a few seconds Laiq replied
confidently, “Four!”
The dismayed teacher was
expecting an effortless correct answer, three. She was disappointed. “Maybe the
child did not listen properly,” she thought. She repeated, “Laiq, listen
carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples
will you have?”
Laiq had seen the disappointment
on his teacher’s face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he
was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search
for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his
teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four.”
The disappointment stayed on the
teacher’s face. She remembered that Laiq liked strawberries. She thought maybe
he doesn’t like apples and that was making him lose focus. This time with an
exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, “If I give you one
strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”
Seeing the teacher happy, young Laiq
calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on
the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile
young Laiq replied,
“Three?”
The teacher now had a victorious
smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one
last thing remained. Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and
one apple and one more apple how many will you have?” Promptly Laiq answered,
“Four!”
The teacher was aghast. “How
Laiq, how?” she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice. In a voice that
was low and hesitating young Laiq replied, “Because I already have one apple in
my bag.”
When someone gives you an answer
that is different from what you expect, don’t think they are wrong. There shall
be an angle that you may not have thought about yet.
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