*

Taj Mahal is laughing matter

Mahesh was always punctual. He slept at exactly the same time.

His siesta began at 2 in the afternoon when the History teacher came in and continued until 2.45 when the class ended. He never slept after the teacher left.

Mahesh didn't discriminate between subjects. He slept through all classes except PT. His sleeping habits were so camouflaged effectively that even his neighbour Kichchi didn't know that Mahesh was asleep. Kichchi and Mahesh had been bench-mates since time immemorial. They shared a unique trait. They had similar handwriting – one that could not be deciphered
by anybody in class. Even they couldn't read their scripts.

Neyveli's Jawahar School was known for trying to achieve the impossible like making students sit through History lessons immediately after lunch. Hence Mahesh, the quintessential sleeper,
could not be faulted for his naps.

That Monday it was different. Mahesh's slumber in solitude was ended by a missile that landed on his head, a pencil eraser launched from the third desk. It was Mr. Thirugnaanam, the History teacher, who had launched it. The reason for the rubber launch? Mahesh's slumber.

Thirugnaanam had asked Mahesh a question. It wasn't that Mahesh didn't want to answer – he was fast asleep. But what if he had heard the question?

He would have asked Kichchi for the answer.

When Thirugnaanam asked Mahesh a question and there was no response from the latter, he was incensed and launched the missile.

But the moment his head was hit, Mahesh was on top of the situation. He quickly stood up and responded, 'Yes Sir' only to find that there was nobody in front of him except the blackboard. Mahesh was sitting on the first bench; the missile had been launched from the third.

Mahesh, usually quick to gauge the situation, understood that he had been asked a question but hadn't answered. As per protocol, he nudged Kichchi, his neighbour.

The protocol was that whenever Mahesh nudged Kichchi, the latter would whisper the answer and Mahesh would repeat the same at a higher pitch, thus conveying a message to the teacher that he was not asleep.

This time, Kichchi wanted to avenge an earlier injustice that Mahesh had done to him. Yes, Mahesh, during his afternoon nap the previous day, had overshot his own notebook, wrote on the bench, reached Kichchi's notebook and started writing on that notebook too. Kichchi's page had his own hieroglyphics in addition to Mahesh's slumber driven art, thus making the page resemble war torn Afghanistan.

That was Kichchi's chance. So whenMahesh asked him the answer, he said,'Taj Mahal.'

Mahesh couldn't hear. He nudged again.

So Kichchi wrote 'TAJ MAHAL' on a piece of paper and gave it to Mahesh.

In a loud voice, Mahesh declared triumphantly, 'Sir, the answer is Taj Mahal' and looked at Mr. Thirugnaanam with the conviction of a film hero.

There was a momentary lull, then the whole class exploded with laughter. Mr. Thirugnaanam's tummy shook vigorously with anger and laughter.

Mahesh was confused. He looked sheepishly around while still emanating the radiance of a victorious Tamil film hero.

The question that Thirugnaanam had asked was, 'Which is the longest river in India?'

• Update #1 - MINT's Kindle Edition March 3, 2016

  Monday is not Tuesday is available in Amazon Kindle. It was released in November 2015 and has entertained many students across the world with its …

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