Nerve Endings Firing Away

This kid selling peacock feather fans [YouTube link] near the Hanging Gardens, Mumbai can speak a ton of languages albeit related to his trade. The guy who shot the video returns two and half years later [YouTube link] and discovers the guy still selling those peacock feathers albeit with the help of few more languages. He claims to have learnt all those languages simply by trying to sell his product to the tourists that visit Hanging Gardens.

As Abhi at Sepia Mutiny wishes, the kid should be doing something other than selling peacock feathers. His limited knowledge of the languages notwithstanding, it is indicative of an immensely gifted sponge-like mind to learn new languages. He definitely enjoys learning them and has used them to maximize his trade earnings. I wish someone could get this kid in school or at least to a language institute to hone his skills. He would make a killing, no pun intended, interpreting at the United Nations or at least be a useful member of the Indian foreign delegations. Why in India does such talent go waste? Reminds me of a joke from the Indira Gandhi era – why do Indians achieve success only after they get out of India? It may not be as true today but there are still remnant of the creativity-stifling babucracy that keeps such kids in poverty.