Geography. They want to study Geography today. I start reading. Wait, we had already covered the fourth chapter, which is about the climate. It’s not until I reach to the passage where measurements for thirty years are discussed as a requirement for determining the climate at a place that I get a Deja Vu.
They accept when I tell it.
What should I read them?
The first chapter.
The usual:
The elder has done his homework. Partially. The younger hasn’t even attempted it.
It’s tricky to get milk pasteurised. If you think it’s the fixed amount of time including when the stove is on ‘sim’ and when it’s on ‘fast’ – you will not get it right. It is more about how long it takes after the gas is burning up faster. It needs your undivided presence then.
I hear the call of the milkman for the grandmother who’s absent. I greet him as I approach. I receive milk as mother had asked me to do. I put it on the gas stove for pasteurisation.
Earlier, before I could serve tea to parents, students arrived. I was supposed to bring chair inside the room and remove utensils from the table. This gives the elder plenty of time to scroll through his Instagram feed.
I am patient. I think he would give it up without insisting. He won’t. I wait.
He shows me a video from his classroom!
That’s height of freedom in a government school. Artistic freedom. His teacher was within the class when the video was being made. How’s it possible?
Then he happily narrates how three of his friends had beaten up a student who had complained about them. They carry smartphones to school.
Backbenchers.
He sides with the horseplay. He sides with the winners. The teacher is connected with the student who made the video and also connected with the student who showed me the video and they’re not scared.
I warmed up the tea again for mother before she left.
Father is attending a call.
Did the younger student spend time before the mirror? Yes.
They clashed once or twice today though it’s not serious. I advised the elder to not strike on head.
He’s wearing another wristband of friendship. It has just FRIEN written on it.
It’s sharp. Metallic. I warn him to be careful with that.
Steel bangle. Thread. Metal wristband. These are all fashionable props for the role he’s playing in the theatre of life: a rowdy teenager who’s tough.
As a plump teenager he wasn’t like this. Adolescence, harmones, company and environment have transformed him dramatically in the last five years.
He belongs to bullies. He’s proud of that. He’s even enjoying being rude and violent to his sibling. More than ever before.
I try to tease the younger one just a bit about the smartphone. It’s puzzling. His expressions don’t suggest that there’s any competition regarding the smartphone use and ownership. It’s not an impending war. He’s going to fight slowly for a long time to get the luxury his elder brother is enjoying.
However, I again remark on his complete loss of interest in studies. In doing that I realise that I am not being like my usual self. I am behaving more like my parents who used to make me feel ashamed when they wanted me to work harder on studies.
The things I tell him are all facts. Only thing is: I am doing it regularly. Rehash. Balderdash? No. Rehash.
When I ask the elder if he recalls his brother’s previous performance: he hardly takes any interest, though he nods. He’s more concerned about acnes on his face. The younger is busy examining his image in the mirror. I talk about covering the window pane with newspapers. The elder is in agreement.
The younger appears to be dreamy and lost in the thought before they leave.
The Geography chapter was brief. They ask about China. China has been in the news. They might have heard the news.
We study a bar graph which has relative comparison of countries with biggest geographical areas in the world.
The elder comments on the small size of country in the map shown. I take note of this and start discussion on how small we actually are in comparison to the area of a country. Then I upscale the discussion by using refrences to galaxies, solar systems and universe. He asks if galaxies blast. He might have heard of the Big Bang. I briefly tell him about Quasars, formation of stars and hypothetical universe.
I tell him how we really don’t know much about anything. I tell him how no single human being knows not more than bits and pieces. Even collective knowledge of humanity is much less compared to collective ignorance.
We know enough to know that we don’t.