KANIFUSHI

It was probably going to be my last picnic in Maldives. That it was going to be an overnight trip was an added attraction. We had been to several uninhabited islands before for picnics, but this was going to be special. It was November 2009; the end of the Academic year and our work for the year was almost over. It was time to enjoy. We got on the boat at about 4pm carrying with us food, water, a tent and generator.



We reached Kanifushi in the evening and it was getting dark. There was a shed where we stored all the materials we brought. The Maldivians started putting up the tent; they knew how to do it better than us. There was something wrong with the generator and we could not use it to light the lamps we brought. It did not matter, since it was a full moon night.



We started walking around the island in groups, exploring the place. Some were in their underwear, enjoying the freedom of being in an uninhabited island. Moreover, it was dark. Kanifushi is one long island. In some places it is just a narrow strip of land with the sea on both sides. When the water level rises, it becomes three small islands, but we can still move from one island to the other walking through knee deep waters. We picked up a few coral pieces, they looked beautiful. Some went fishing. Maldivians love to fish and never have a meal without fish. Near the shore, we saw something amazing. Hundreds of tiny specks of light were being washed ashore. It was some organism that produces light, like the firefly. They remained bright only for a few seconds.



We started walking back to the tent, where a few were preparing dinner. It was roshi, baked beans and coffee. After dinner, we started a fire and used it to grill the fish that was caught. Fishing requires patience and some were still at it. Some of the caught fish were covered with aluminium foil and thrown into the fire. It was removed a few minutes later and found to be cooked.Water level started rising at night and the tent had to be removed and pitched further away from the shore. Most of us did not sleep that night, though some did lie down in the tent. There was singing and dancing around the fireplace.
Early morning, we started going around the island again and now we could see Kanifushi in daylight.It was really beautiful.No wonder Tourists pay large sums to rent the island.Some of us went swimming, others played football.We had to leave after breakfast. After working for eight years in Maldives, I had resigned and this was my perfect farewell to Maldives.

TUITION

“My son is a genius.” I thought he did not know the meaning of the word “genius” and looked at him curiously. He explained that his son got 95 percent marks in Arabic, a subject he started studying a few months back, after arriving in Africa. I said ‘he must be really smart, does he have anybody to help him?’ It was then that I came to know that he had a private tutor for Arabic. It was the same person, who teaches him in class, makes the question paper and corrects the answer scripts. Obviously, he can coach a student based on the question paper he has made and also manipulate the results. He continued, “Not only did he get 95 percent, he has the highest marks for Arabic in the class.” The other students were studying Arabic for years. This parent really thought his son was a “genius” and did not realize that the high tuition fee he gave was behind the results.

In another incident, a boy had a private tutor for English. Soon afterwards, the boy started showing remarkable improvement in his results. This particular tutor was not teaching at the boy’s school, but he happened to be a good friend of the English teacher at the boy’s school. He found out what questions were likely to appear for the exam and coached the boy accordingly. Also, he would ask the English teacher at the boy’s school to manipulate the results and agreed to do likewise for him, if need be. The parent was very happy with the results but after sometime there was a disagreement about the tuition fee and the boy stopped the tuition. Immediately, his marks started falling, since the teacher at his school was asked to fix him for not being co-operative about the fee.

Though, in many cases tuition does help a student, it is not always what it seems.