Hollow(een)

After a long and tiring day of work, I returned home one evening. I needed a beverage to refresh. As I poured orange juice into a glass, I heard a knock on my door. My brain was saying, "Oh no, who is it now, I'm tired and not in the mood to entertain any guests." I put the juice bottle down and went to the door. 

I open the door and I see a kid (8-10 years old) with an uncertain look. In a low voice, the kid said "Trick or Treat". My slow brain had to take a few seconds to process it. "Is it really Halloween today?" I looked at my phone and it was indeed October 31st. I was not in any mood for tricks (not that I had any tricks in my arsenal). So I asked the kid to wait for a minute and I went in to fetch treats (candy). 

I searched the usual places in my kitchen, only to realize that I did not have any candy at all. What do I do now? I had to improvise. I went and apologized to the kid and asked if an energy bar would be acceptable. Hearing what I said, the smile on the kid's face vanished and a confused and "Really?" expression came out. The kid then, in the same low voice, slowly said yes. I brought a couple of energy bars and dropped in the kid's bag and wished a happy Halloween. The kid stared at me for a few seconds with a blank expression and then walked towards the next home.

Farm Study

You grow up hearing farmers saying to their children, "study well otherwise you will stay in the village and do agriculture". This implies that agriculture doesn't need education and they are mutually exclusive. I can see their view point that getting a college degree will help get you a good paying job and have steady income. But what I don't agree is considering farming a menial job. Sure, unless you are farming a big land, there is not much income. But if a person can earn a basic living and can look after his or her family, isn't that enough?

I think parents should stop considering their kids' basic education as an investment. Basic education will help even if their children end up staying in the village and farming their land.

In recent years, I've been reading about some people who are going back to their villages and starting the farming using the education they received and it makes me happy. Having basic science education helps the farmers take on new technologies and try non-traditional methods in farming.