The Cow stands in front of the school............

This is actually a very old joke. But I got reminded of it today, rather abruptly.

When we had to write an essay in school, we prepared an essay on 'The Cow'. but as most of the examinations in life come as a surprise, we were asked to write an essay on 'The School'. In such circumstances, one need not to give up so we managed the situation something like this -

The Cow stands in front of the school.
The Cow is white in colour.
The Cow gives milk, near the school.
The Cow eats grass around the school.
The Cow is called our mother in school as well.
The Cow has one calf, which plays in school.

And so on........

I had to sit through GDs for selecting management students. The topic given for the GD was - 'Working mothers make better mothers than housewives.'

The GD starts ...........

....my friends I would like to tell you that a working mother can better know what is corruption in the society. She can better teach her children how to tackle corruption. She goes out of the house and she finds that in order to get the work done, one has to pay money, she can actually teach her children how to take a stance against such a situation by not paying the money. Corruption in this country would end only if all mothers teach their children that they have to stand against it. Each one of us has to take a stance, only then corruption would end in this country. A working mother who knows better what corruption is, because she has to deal with it on a day to day basis can contribute to a nation also better by preparing her children to join the crusade against corruption. One Anna Hazare cannot do much, each one of us has to join the movement and I think working mother makes a better mother when she understands the realities of the world and imparts the right education to her children.............

How often do we take examinations in life with this kind of an approach? Fixed ideas, prejudices, incomplete information, restricted vision.........no wonder that we fail often.