Elementary, my dear Watson !

I have been devouring Sherlock Holmes again after a long long time ! :) The last time I read it was when I must have been in my 7-8th Std. I remember though, that, at that time, I had skipped the big stories like 'A Study in Scarlet' and ' A sign of four'. I intend to read those now.

What keeps one hooked to this book, is the way in which Sherlock Holmes sees through the obvious and is able to conjure up events and situations through his keen observation that a common man would not be able to see through, imagine or deduce.

On the same note, have there been times, when you have been able to deduce from a situation easily? I have been ! much to the consternation and bewilderment of the people around ! There have been times, when, in some situations, some inference would be sooo very obvious to me ! And it would always leave me amused at people's surprises to the conclusion :)

I remember I must have been in my 10th std or so. We were in Baroda at that time. And I was traveling alone in the Rajdhani to Mumbai. The arrival time of this train is 7 am or so, early morning. The train came in to the station at around 6.55 am. I boarded the train and settled down in my seat -when a neatly dressed, confident, middle aged lady with a playful look on her face comes and sits besides me.

I start talking to her. She discovers that I am going to meet my relatives in Mumbai and tells me that she is going for her son's college admission in Mumbai. She tells me that she is coming from Delhi and informs me about the education structure there. She says "In a few colleges/schools in Delhi, students have the option of joining the attached degree college directly after their higher secondary education. xyz college has Commerce in their degree course, abc has science. The sad part is we do not have it ". I nodded my head in empathy, and full of innocent curiosity, I ask her "Which class do you teach to ? "

The lady was baffled ! Turning a full 90 degrees to the left , with big wide eyes, she asks me- "how on the earth do you know ?"

I am confused now! What could I possibly know that has made this lady sit up like this !

When the lady says - "How did you know I was a teacher ?"

:))))) I am amused :) and am giggling in my mind :) I tell her - " Your demeanor is stern, confident, smart but child like- the kind you would expect a teacher to be. So I was wondering if you were a teacher as soon as you came in. And you confirmed it when you said - "xyz college has Commerce in their degree course, abc has science. The sad part is we dont have it" . Obviously, you were referring to the college where you teach" :)

She heaves a sigh of relief ! She then sits back, avoiding any conversation with me for the rest of the journey ..!

I can almost hear her thinking in her mind - "Phew ! That was straightforward enough .."

Smiling to myself, I say in my mind - "Elementary , my dear Watson! ".