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when he should harvest it. You could see his heart pounding against his ribs. He turned to his neighbours once more for advice. "No,no," I said, "no more help." "Why not?" he countered, "I've taken them into partnership. We've formed a co-operative society." I felt that if I disallowed this I might have the Government of India complaining that I was guilty of anti- social propaganda. I had already heard Yatish Pal (of all people) telling him the right answer. I did not want his shirt though I was eager to hear what Mr. Nair would say when he arrived for Tata House lunch without it. However I felt that a lesson in the benefits of co- operation should outweigh my personal interests, so I accepted his answer and handed him back his shirt. The bell went as he tucked in all but the left hind quarter and he ran off to lunch satisfied to have regained his 5 rupees. "Oh!" said the Headmaster, "Well, I must think this over." "Yes," I said, "but I haven't told you about the hazards yet." "I have not time for anymore now," he said, rather ungraciously I thought. "Then I will tell you next week," I persisted. Note for my memo pad. Let Mr Arjan Singh box with Virvijai and Moolgaonkar for the next few shifts. Should be safe enough with Vedniti. Farming in IAI Forms: with hazards I expected Ai to be better than A3, but I was disappointed. To start with they had heard that A3 had lost a good deal of money, and a few of them were prepared to invest a larger sum than one Rupee. I told them that when they came to study economics they would learn the truth of the old saying: 'Nothing venture, nothing gain,' but they were unmoved. Bhagat lost a rupee by cutting a crop of sugar cane before it had time to grow more than 3 feet high, while Krishnaya lost most of his investment ( I generously allowed him something for straw) by leaving his barley standing till the birds of the air and the winds of heaven had dispersed most of the seed. However the time came when the people were making a modest 3 annas or so from their pusillanimous ventures on each crop they chose to grow. The drain was small but it was mounting, and I saw the motor mower I had promised myself (determined to lend to no one) as a result of my operations with A2 and A3, likely not to materialize. It was time, I felt, to introduce more real life. "So far," I said, "you have had good things all your own way. All you have to do is to know how to grow your crops. Any decent farmer knows that. Now you must (for I want you to learn to sympathise with farmers) undergo some of the hazards of agriculture. A farmer is dependent upon weather and other things out of his control. I have here a card and a spinning pointer. When you plant your crop I will spin the pointer and you must accept what fate brings to you." I had learnt a good number of the hazards of farming from listening to my namesake who operates in the neighbourhood but I had been more generous than he might have thought proper in the rewards. Interspersed among hazards were chances such as 'exceptionally favourable monsoon- profits increased by 5 %' or 'artificial shortage caused by black marketers - prices rise 30%.' However, in spite of this sporting risk, all went well (for me) for some time. Mirchandani's Australian wheat was ruined by drought, Handa had a promising crop in England washed away by floods, Guzdar lost his hay through heavy rain at the time of harvest, La II lost his Doon wheat from an attack of smut, and Bhide's rice was devoured by monkeys. Things started to go wrong when Adige argued that it was quite impossible that his Canadian wheat should have been destroyed by locusts. Then Jha, who knows too much, claimed that, far from frost ruining his tea crop, it would have improved its flavor, and he should make a profit of 5% instead of 2%. I had to grant this as a result of a lot of shouting (I might have argued longer about the world tea glut if I hadn't known that Mr. Gurdial Singh was suffering from a sore throat and could only talk to his class next door in a low whisper) but I expected to get something back as I felt pretty confident that not even Jha could get the processes of withering, rolling and fermenting in the right order. Then the bell went. My fellow teachers, I offer you this idea. Bring real life into your class room and add to your incomes. For the historians I admit it will be difficult. It is difficult to make money out of the past. But what a chance for the mathematics department. At last mental arithmetic might improve in the school if stock at so much, valued at so much, bearing interest at so much, were auctioned to the highest bidder and then the wheel was spun for corners in Bombay, over production in Kanpur, strikes in Calcutta, dumping by Japan, and all the other hazards you could think of. [These articles originally appeared in the Doon School Weekly issues of Dec 6th and 17'h '52 ... Ed] Rose Bowl January 2014115

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