Shreeman taught me all sorts of wonderful things. The one I liked be best was counting. We started with counting flowers on a rose bush. Then we counted flowers in a flower-bed and, in a few days, the entire garden. Shreeman taught me how logical the construction of big numbers was. Soon I had undertaken to count all the leaves on the mango tree closest to the window of my room. It was my first big assignment. I did it as a favor to Shreeman who didn't have such a good eyesight as I, and he really did need to find out the exact number of leaves on that tree. I forget why. So I started counting. Shreeman sat under the tree listening to me count and only correcting when I said things like 'ninety-ten'.
Once I had successfully counted the leaves, I started looking out for a more challenging task. One night when the household was sleeping on the cool terrace, I counted all the stars in the night sky. The next day I told Shreeman the exact number of stars in the sky. He laughed and shook his head.
"Are you sure you haven't missed any?"
"I am sure."
"And if you were to count again tonight, do you think the number will be same?"
"Not sure about that! Who knows, perhaps some stars will stay at home tonight. Perhaps some stars will get star-visitors."
Shreeman laughed so hard that his eyes started watering.
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