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How many
apples!!!
A teacher teaching
Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him, "If I give you one apple
and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"
With a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, "Four!" The dismayed
teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was
disappointed. "May be the child did not listen properly," she
thought. She repeated, "Arnav, listen carefully. It is very simple.
You will be able to do it right if you listen carefully. If I give
you one apple and one apple and one
apple, how many apples will you have?"
Arnav 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 his teacher happy.
This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four...". The disappointment
stayed on teacher's face. She remembered Arnav loves strawberries.
She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making
him lose focus. This time with exaggerated excitement and twinkling
eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and
one strawberry,then how many will Arnav have?" Seeing the teacher
happy, young Arnav 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 Arnav enquired, "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 Arnav answered, "Four!"
The teacher was
aghast. "How Arnav, how?" she demanded in a little stern and
irritated voice. In a voice that was low hesitating young Arnav
replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."
Moral of the story:
When someone gives me an answer that is different from what we are
expecting, not necessarily they are wrong. There may be an angle
that we have not understood at all. A leader talks to the
people & also look out for the apples in their bag!
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