SMS from School

Text messages are still the rage with marketing guys, and it is evident from numerous messages which I get from numerous marketers. While normal mortals like me and you have long switched over to Whatsapp; private and government organizations still rely on text messages to sell their products or ideas to us. Recently, there was a flood of messages from the Income Tax Department urging all and sundry to pay taxes before 31^st July. Private schools have also come on this bandwagon and have started sending messages to parents. Messages from schools generally include notice about due date for fees payment, on PTMs, examination schedules, Olympiads, etc. Some messages can be quite useful, e.g. if a child does not reach school then the parents may come to know that the child has bunked his classes and has landed up at the cinema hall instead of the classroom. Some messages can be plain boring while some can be hilarious. Recently, I got a text message from the school about which I am yet to understand whether it is serious or hilarious. Following is the message:

“Dear Parents,

This is to inform you all that dengue viral is going on. So, please use coconut oil below your knees till your footsteps. It is antibiotic. Dengue mosquito cannot fly higher than knees. Please keep this in mind and start using it. Spread this message as much as you can. Your one message can save many lives. Herbal tips: Kindly keep kapur, long and elaichi in your pocket too. “

This message is apparently a useful one because it is giving a warning about dengue. It appears to be on time; unlike delayed anti-dengue initiatives which the government authorities take. Chief Ministers and Health Ministers usually get a wakeup call only after news of dengue-related deaths start appearing in newspaper and on television.

This message urges the parents to apply coconut oil. Hopefully, school teachers must have conveyed the same message to their students in classrooms.

This message says that coconut oil is an antibiotic. Thanks to copy & paste culture prevalent even among teachers, coconut oil has been declared as an antibiotic. But an antibiotic is of no use against virus; which dengue parasite is. To the best of my knowledge, mosquitoes belong to the class Insecta of phylum Arthropoda. An antibiotic is not going to act against an insect. So, what is the use of applying coconut oil?

I searched Google to find answer. You will land up on hundreds of sites which write shenanigans about naturopathy and Ayurveda; in the name of promoting and conserving the ancient culture of India. All these sites give lot of information without an iota of credibility, i.e. without proper reference.

Mosquito repellant creams and some other concoctions work by masking the body odour of humans. But coconut oil is unable to do this.

This message also urges to stuff the pocket of a student with spices; as if the student is going to cook biryani in the school. I fear that the school may start selling packets of assorted prices and may make it mandatory for all parents to buy the packets for their wards. Schools will charge very high price for such packets, and parents will not be allowed to buy spices from the market. This will be a new revenue stream for the school; that too in the lean season. Schools have already made hefty amount of money at the beginning of academic session; by selling books, notebooks and uniforms for all occasions. But earning more money in the mid of the academic season must be the brainchild of school management with great business acumen.

A school is the place where we send our children to study and to learn certain aspects of life. All modern schools are expected to instill knowledge through scientific methods. They are not expected to brainwash the students with myths about whatever culture they believe in.

As an instant reaction to this message, I planned to meet the class-teacher. I wanted to argue with her about futility of sending such messages. But my wife advised me against doing so, because she fears that this will hamper the scores of my son. I had no other way than to surrender to my wife’s commands.