I was busy coding on a boring Monday afternoon. Suddenly my phone rings and I pick the call thinking it is one of my colleagues. I say hello in a sleepy voice, and inturn I hear a very sweet child's voice saying "Hello, can I speak to Rohini Aunty?". My voice melted and I started to converse in my sweeted voice possible :). It was my colleague's daughter calling at my desk because she could not reach her dad on phone. I told her that I would ask her dad to call back when he returns to his seat. I asked her if she had any message for her dad. She enthusiastically said that she had become the monitor of her class! I congratulated her and ended the call.
After a minute she calls back and asks "Has my dad gone out to smoke?" For a second I went silent. We as grown ups dont realize what goes on in a child's mind when the elders do things that the child knows are bad. I was really touched by the words from an innocent child. If I were smoking, I really would have quit after speaking to this child.
