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Grandma, I won a prize in the quiz contest,
announced Shilpa, proudly displaying the cup for all of us to
see.
Congrats, my child, but what was the quiz all
about, I said.
It was about Gandhiji, of course, she
asserted.
I wondered how Shilpa, who had joined school
in India after her parents moved from the US recently, know so
much about Gandhiji as to win a prize. But I refrained from
expressing what I thought.
What did the quiz master ask you all, I said.
Oh, she began by asking about where Gandhiji
was born, where he studied, something about his family, the
landmarks in the freedom movement and the film that was made on
him.
I am sure the participants answered the
questions well, I said.
Well, we did and, in fact, we had identical
scores.
Then what was the clincher that made you win
a prize, I asked, getting interested.
Then the quiz master posed a question which
none of us expected and said the most original and convincing
answer would fetch a prize.
So what was the question that broke the tie,
I asked, my curiosity aroused.
The question was, amongst Sonia Gandhi, Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who would be the ideal prime minister
of the future, and she wanted us to give reasons for our answer.
It was a unanimous answer that Rahul Gandhi
is the best choice because he has a very supportive mother who
will see to it that he wears the mantle of the prime minister.
Well, that’s true I suppose, I observed.
No, I don’t think so.
Then what did you say, I asked.
I said, madam, you have forgotten to mention
one more Gandhi. According to me, Maneka Gandhi would be ideal
as our future prime minister. Though she belongs to the dynasty,
unfortunately, she doesn’t have the family support. Also that,
prime minister’s post is not something that is handed on a
platter but one has to work for it.
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