Question 1:
What did Hafeez Contractor have nightmares about ?
Answer:
Hafeez Contractor had nightmares about appearing for a maths examination without being prepared for it.
Question 2:
What did the Principal say to him (Hafeez), which influenced him deeply?
Answer:
The Principal said to Hafeez, “Look here, Son, I have been seeing you from day one. You are a good student , but you never studied. I have taken care of you till today. Now, I can no longer take care of you so you do it yourself.” This one sentence spoken to Hafeez changed his life.
Question 3:
“.....that year I did not step out onto the field.” What was he doing that year?
Answer:
That year he went for prayers, ate food and studied.
Question 4:
What ‘distraction’ did Hafeez Contractor create one day?
Answer:
The distraction was the game of ‘chor-police’.
Question 5:
Would you have liked to participate in the ‘distraction’ had you been with him?
Answer:
Yes, I would have liked to participate in it had I been with Hafeez. It is a very interesting game.
Question 5:
Hafeez Contractor wanted to join the police force. Why didn’t he?
Answer:
Hafeez didn’t join the police force because his mother wanted him to do his graduation.
Question 6:
In the architect’s office, Hafeez Contractor was advised to drop everything and join architecture. Why?
Answer:
In the architect’s office, Hafeez showed his skill in architecture. He proved the drawing of a window detail wrong. Then he was asked to draw some specific things like a house. He drew with ease and perfection. So he was advised to drop everything and join architecture.
Question 7:
What was Mrs Gupta’s advice to Hafeez Contractor?
Answer:
Mrs Gupta’s advice to Hafeez was that he should become an architect in future.
Question 7:
What made her advise him so?
Answer:
Perfect sketches drawn by Hafeez made Mrs Gupta advise him so.
Question 8:
How did he (Hafeez) help fellow student who had lost a button?
Answer:
When any student lost a button, Hafeez would cut a button for him from a chalk, using a blade.
Question 9:
Which rules did he break as a school boy?
Answer:
Hafeez would copy in the class during exam times. He would try to get hold of the examination paper that had been prepared prior to the exam.
Question 10:
What is Hafeez Contractor’s definition of mathematics?
Answer:
For Hafeez, mathematics meant putting designs, construction, psychology and sociology together and making a sketch out of them.
Question 11:
How would you want to define mathematics? Do you like the subject?
Answer:
Mathematics is a science of space, quantity and number. I like the subject as it is very exciting. I love solving sums.
Question 11:
Is it likely that someone who is original and intelligent does not do very well at school? Should such a learner be called a failure? If not, why not?
Answer:
Yes, it is likely that an original and intelligent person does not do very well at school. But he/she should not be called a failure as he/she may prove to be a success in some other field of life.
Question 12:
Who, in your view, is an unusual learner?
Answer:
An unusual learner is the one who is practical in life. He/she is someone who shows no interest in studies yet is as intelligent and sharp minded or more than others.
Question 13:
What can schools do to draw out the best in unusual learners? Suggest whatever seems reasonable to you.
Answer:
Schools should try to know about the taste of their unusual learners. They should try to develop the hidden talents in them and judge them on varied aspects rather than solely academics.