Gotcha!

Ever so often, I make it a point to scan the daily news and share some topics of current affairs with the kids, so that they may learn about their world (and, hopefully, avoid other’s mistakes from being repeated).

Off late, the newspapers were full of stories on how Vijay Mallya was absconding from the country. So, Mallya was the topic of discussion, that fateful morning…

Papa: Do you know about Vijay Mallya, the owner and CEO of Kingfisher Airlines?

Papa: Well, he borrowed a lot of money from various banks, and has left the country without repaying those loans. That is why the newspapers are full of stories on him and on how he should be made to pay.

Tiger: How much money did he borrow?

Papa: He owes the State Bank of India nearly 9,000 crores, and SBI has now filed a case against him in court to get that payment back.

Tiger: But, that’s not fair. What about the “interest”?!

Imagine that!

Here, I was trying to simplify the story for his benefit, instead of talking about how the principal plus interest amounted to nearly 9,000 crores. And, this 8-year-old was sharp enough to spot that if someone has borrowed X amount, he owes the bank X plus the interest on the borrowed amount.

If this is the future of India, we are in good hands, wouldn’t you say?

Tea Time

The wife and I were having a bit of a tiff on who makes better tea between the two of us. On a whim, I asked my 12-year-old daughter to intervene…

Papa: Pumpkin, will you help us settle a heated debate? Who makes better tea – mama or me?

Pumpkin: How do we do that?

Papa: Well, mama and I will both make a cup of tea each, and you can taste and tell us which cup tastes better. Agreed?

(She pauses to process it, before replying…)

Pumpkin: OK, but I have one condition. I will judge it based on which cup of tea tastes better, not who I like more!

What more could one ask for?