Broccoli, Carrots and Sun Glasses

In the evenings, after all attendees at a Sanskrit camp were rejuvenated with some bhajans sung with gusto, younger minds were usually separated from older minds so that older minds could listen un-interrupted to some thought-stimulating talks. With a lot of gusto of my own I decided to treat the young minds to some thought-stimulating talk of their own! Not used to dealing with children on an hour-to-hour basis, my lack of familiarity with their vocabulary spectrum showed up in a very amusing way when I inadvertently used the word 'perspective'. Here is a snippet of conversation that followed.

Young curious mind (YCM): What is 'perspective'?

Me: Hm... Have you seen a 3D movie?

YCM: What is a 3D movie?

Me: Hmm... Have you worn sun glasses?

YCM: What is sun glasses?

Me; Hmmm... Have you seen your father wear dark glasses when he goes out in the Sun?

YCM: Oh! When my dad was young, he did not eat broccoli or carrots. So, he has to wear glasses now …

Once realization dawned on me about what carrots and broccoli had to do with sun glasses (he indeed was a cool kid - he had taken the Sun out!), I was thoroughly amused and helpless with laughter.

My next sane question elicited an yelled out 'yes'. The smart person that I was, I said “You do not have to yell! I ate my broccoli and carrots when young, so my hearing is intact!” Pleased that I had handled smartness with smartness, I was about to proceed when another young curious mind piped up “If you ate your broccoli and carrots, why did you need glasses in class to read a book?” - I had had to confess to not being able to read some small letters, and switched to a story with relatively bigger letters.

Now I understand why others entrusted with the task of tending to the young minds chose physical play-time to wear out the young imps rather than attempt any thought-stimulating talk! All said, I am very proud of the eventual rapt attention I was able to elicit out of them!!!