Half-a-story of a Stony,Grey Building

In the land of LORE’B, there was a Grey, Stone Building and the Grey, Stone Building was important. It was important because the Elders had established it with a specific purpose : The high and lofty goal of Learning, that of dispeling the darkness of Ignorance. Someone remarked that the grey was symbolic of the darkness-to-white light transition. He owned a zebra.

Over the years, the grey stone building developed a reputation for selecting the brightest kids in the land. And all this was mainly due to an animal. A cat.

To be precise, it was a cat with a whim. And this capricious cat roamed at the entrance and would never let kids enter unless they strung a bell around it. So kids of the land began to obsess over felines and bells. And that’s when things began to get ..….very, very arbitrary.

Somewhat arbitrary were the kids themselves : for whom, it became more important to ‘get into’ the Grey, Stone Building – rather than think of what they would do once they were inside. A million kids were trying to squeeze in, and by some inexplicable reason - it turned into a stupid competition of who-can-squeeze-in-first. One kid was asked, “ If everyone jumps into a well, would you jump too? “ For which, he nonchalantly replied “ Of course, there must be something in the well ! “

Somewhat very arbitrary were the kids’ parents: for whom it became a matter of 'social prestige'. Their starry-eyed neighbours would exclaim : “Wow , did you say your daughter entered the Grey, Stone Building ?”. It felt good. It felt so good that nobody wondered why.

Probably the most arbitrary were the things that happened to the kids once they entered the Grey, Stone Building………

The lives of the kids inside were governed by the great decree of Gaussian Curvature. By this decree, the kids had to wear electronic headgear with lots of tiny, white bulbs. The bulbs were digital display, so each kid had a number glowing over his head – 3.25, 2.41, 3.67 etc.

The numbers came about through an extremely elaborate, entirely random process.
The process was this :-
Every few months, the kids were given books to read. Every few weeks, the kids were asked questions on what they read. Early in the morning, the Elders would take the kids on top of a hill. The shape of the hill was specially designed to suit the great decree of Gaussian Curvature.
One Elder would shout the question, the fastest kid would answer it, so he got to stay. The rest were pushed off the top by the Elders and they came tumbling down the hill. It was that simple: Question, Answer, Push. Question, Answer, Push. The system was as perverted as it was curved.

It ran like a well-oiled machine - the only thing that mattered to the kids was to absorb every book thrown at them. It didn't matter whether the books were relevant to their lives outside the grey walls. 'Absorption' was the only way to avoid the ignominy of tumbling down the hill. Everyone hated being pushed around. It was the grand decree of Gaussian Curvature.

The system was so evaluative that it began to change the kids’ personalities. Having been constantly pushed and bruised, most kids became aggresive. They also became very judgemental. They would measure each others' self-worth by the numbers that the Curvature assigned for their digital displays. The higher the number(glow), the greater the respect a kid got.
The junior kids would outstretch their hands in salute of their senior: "Hail the great one!" It was an obsession.In every definition of the term.

Even the elders rewarded the kids on-top-o-the-hill. If they desired feedback, they would call only such kids for the discussion. Apparently, they didn't seem to know that talents can actually differ amongst individuals.


And such was life at the grey, stone building.

Now, was that the whole story ? No.
After all, it was not as if everything was wrong about the grey, stone building. Certain things were , in fact, truly amazing - they made all the 'squeezing in' worthwhile. To speak of these great things, a moment has been chosen - A month from now, an event of great significance is about to take place at the building. The pen shall write again. Peace out.

**END OF PART I**