A peculiar scolding

Strangely enough, just two days before he committed suicide, this uncle spent the evening with Ganapati’s family in their village. There he saw Ganapati playing with a tennis ball. Immediately he came up and started scolding Ganapati. Normally this uncle was always so affectionate to the little boy, but this time he was acting very strangely. He said, “It is evening. You have to be very careful. You must go home and study. If you do not study, you will be illiterate.”

At that time Ganapati was about nine and a half years old. He could not believe that his uncle was scolding him, since he was usually so affectionate. When Ganapati went home, he told his mother what had happened. But she said that his uncle was right — evening was the time for him to study.