First or Twentyth

I was in 2nd standard at that time & my brother had just UKG.

Since it's my brother's story I will try to tell it from his point of view. Well he had just joined UKG & he was learning counting. My brother, Sunny as I call him used to love numbers more than the alphabets. Of course his Fav. subject was drawing, which he took pretty seriously. I was a pretty good sketcher in my school days. Sunny always used to say that he wanted to learn how to sketch like me & if possible better. I left sketching & drawing after school, So his wish never actually came true. Its a different matter altogether that I never told him, that he was always better than me & even today I wouldn't confess the same in front of him. My shield is my alibi, that since I don't sketch anymore. But the truth is I am no where on his plane, let alone be a match for him.

I think I am diverting from the subject. Well as I told you, Sunny used to love numbers. And he used to take school seriously in those days. Well, mid-terms came & went. My family constitutes scholars, more than anything else. And hence every kid in my family is expected to be "First" in his class.

Well, I came back from school early that day after getting my report card. I was First in my class & was expecting something as a prize from my Dad. Half an hour later my younger brother comes running, shouting that he got the best marks in his class. He was very happy &
directly went to hug my Mom. He was a Mama's boy in those days. My Mom was very happy & flipped through his report card.

She asked Sunny to sit, and asked him what rank had he got. My brother excitedly told her "Twenty". Incidentally there were 20 students in his class. When my Mom told him that he was the last student in his class, My brother was puzzled. But he said nothing to Mom, and promised her that he would be First in his class next time.

Next morning when my Mom woke up my Sunny and was trying to get him ready for school, he said his teacher is bad & she doesn't know anything.

"Well isn't 20 greater than 1? If it is then haven't I got the greatest numbers? So shouldn't I be getting the Prize. And if Twenty is not greater than 1, then why does she teach 1,2,3,4....20."

My Mom tried to think of something, but was tongue tied.

I still remember this incident, because it gives me the insight of the logical approach of a fresh mind towards a problem.