Back to: CBSE Class 8 English Summary and Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
an interview that proved that the students considered dull could still be the achievers.
I
Hafeez Contractor had this terrible nightmare of appearing in a mathematics exam without knowing anything. But now, he had no time to think of nightmares. Mr. Bela Raja asked him about his earliest memories in school to which he replied that he had lost interest in studies as early as the third year.
He used to annoy everyone until one day when his principal told him that he had no father and his mother had worked so hard to bring him up to that platform. Now, he (Hafeez) must take care of himself as the principal was not able to help him anymore.
Hafeez was an excellent sports person but did not play that year. He realized that he must study hard at that stage of life and excel in every field, including sports and study. When Hafeez got 50%, his principal told him that it was indeed a distinction for him. Hafeez also confessed that he forgot a lot of things. To memorize a thing, he used the technique of mind-mapping.
Mr. Bela Raja asked if Hafeez ever felt insulted on being pulled up, to which he replied that he received punishment for his lousy performance every week. On being canned up, Hafeez confessed that he was only interested in playing pranks, and punishment by the teacher was nothing in front of a thing that he was interested in (playing). His books were brand new throughout the whole year because he never used them.
II
Mr. Bela Raja asked Hafeez how he had entered the field of architecture. He replied that when he took French in college, his teacher was an architect’s wife. So, technically he went to an architect’s office to learn French. In that office, he saw someone drawing a window design.
He made a bet that this design was faulty and proved himself correct. He was advised by his relative to join architecture. From that day onward, it was a cakewalk for him. After becoming an architect, Hafeez met one of his teachers Mrs. Gupta, who appreciated his sketches.
On being asked various questions regarding the current school curriculum, Hafeez replied that joining the race to get the first rank was futile because many students were doing ordinary jobs now.
Hafeez told Bela Raja that his perspective in thinking about a situation was quite different from the masses. He used to build shirt buttons from chalk to help his classmate evade the discipline checkup. He hated mathematics and now loved doing projects having mathematics as an innate part of it.
