"Third Grade Prefect Election"

It was just three weeks since the new academic year started for Rahul . Rahul was a third grader studying in Vidhyalaya School. The first two weeks was full of fun . It took two weeks for the teachers to know the names of the children. The children did not have any difficulty in making friends because they all had studied in the same class in second grade. They were very happy since all the friends were in the same section. They were proud to call themselves seniors --forgetting that they had just finished their second grade two weeks back. They looked down upon the so called "lower primary chotuus". The boys thought that it was below their dignity to talk or play with the girls. If someone happened to talk to the girls the other boys would make fun of him. Rahul was pretty much conscious about not talking with the girls . The reason they had for this discrimination was that "girls are lame and they play only with barbie dolls." The boys considered themselves to be "tech-freaks".

After two weeks of school the class teacher decided that she would conduct a class election to select the prefect for the class. In her absence she wanted someone to control the class. The children were all excited to hear about the election. Till the second grade the teacher used to select the prefect. Now the concept of election was quite interesting to them. They could be on par with their older siblings when they talked about elections. The prefect would get to wear the prestigious "prefect badge." The teacher told that who ever was interested in contesting for the prefect post could give their names. Out of over enthusiasm everyone raised their hands. The teacher told that the election would be conducted on the following Monday and they had time to think about their choice. On the election day they should write down on a piece of paper the name of their favorite friend whom they wished to select as the prefect. Everyone nodded their heads as if they had already decided about their choice.

Rahul went home that evening and told his mom about the class election . His mom asked him whether he was going to contest. He told that half the class had decided to vote for Ishaan. And the other half had not decided whom to vote. He also added that Ishaan had the chance of winning because he was the tallest boy in the class and that he had already turned 8 years-- Better criteria than that of the Indian parliamentary election.

For the next four days the talk of the class was," who was going to vote for whom?" Boys were against the girls and the girls were against the boys. It looked like the wind was on Ishaan's side. The day of the election came. The teacher distributed a small piece of paper to each student and asked them to write the name of their choice. The class was of pin-drop silence. Everyone wrote a name secretly then folded the paper and gave it to the teacher. The teacher told that she would announce the result after lunch break.


That evening when Rahul reached home his mom asked him about the election. Rahul did not seem to be very excited about the results. His mom thought that may be someone he did not prefer was elected as the prefect. She asked him who the prefect was? Rahul told that there was no prefect elected. His mom got stunned .She asked him,"How come Rahul? You all voted for the prefect and why didn't your teacher elect the kid who got the majority of the votes?" Rahul told,"No mama, last minute we all decided that we won't vote for Ishaan. Everyone wanted to become the prefect so everyone wrote their own name on the paper and gave it to the teacher. The teacher got confused and told us that everyone is the prefect in our class." Rahul walked away innocently after saying this. Rahul's mom did not know whether to laugh or admire at the innocence of the little children.