Of Names and Roll Nos.

Back in school days, everytime our teacher took roll-calls, it irked me. Coz, 50 human beings were reduced to mere numbers. Roll no. 1 and up went Renu Agarwal, Roll no. 2 and it was Deepa Amin's turn.....so on and so forth.

One fine day, it all changed.

Teacher: Roll no. 35
No response.
Teacher: Roll No. 35
Again, no response. We all were a bit surprised, coz., roll no. 35 was indeed present and attentive to the proceedings.
Teacher: (Angrily) Roll no. 35...Samir Parathe
Samir: Yes, Ma'am.
Teacher: Are you deaf?
Samir: No, Ma'am
Teacher: (Rhetorically) Then, why didn't you respond?
Samir: Because I'm not Roll No. 35. I am Samir Parathe.

Chup...Lambi Khamoshi...

A couple of us stood up and applauded.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

Roll-calls turned to name-calls.