Sideswipe: August 15: Man wins court battle over 25 cents

Tungnath Chaturvedi says his case should send the message that "one doesn't need to give up even when the fight looks tough". Critics say it's a prime example of why India's court system is so clogged. After 22 years and more than 100 hearings, Chaturvedi has been refunded the 20 rupees—25 cents—he was overcharged by when he bought a train ticket in 1999, the BBC reports. He was also awarded interest, which brought it up to around $3.50. Chaturvedi, a 66-year-old lawyer, took North Eastern Railway, a section of state-owned rail monopoly Indian Railways, to court after he bought two 35-rupee tickets in his hometown of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and only received 10 rupees in change. The judgment also ordered the rail company to pay him a fine of 15,000 rupees, around $188. He represented himself in court, but the long battle still cost him more than 20,000 rupees in fees, along with hundreds of hours of his time, AFP reports. "You can't put a price on the energy and time I've lost fighting this case," he said on Friday.

Roasted by kids

Parent: You know you'll have to listen to me for the rest of your life.
Child: No, I have to listen to you for the rest of YOUR life.

When I was 22 or so, I was just out of university, living at home, and working as an aide at a primary school. A 5-year-old asked me if I had kids. I said no. He asked if I had a wife. I said no. The kid looks a bit confused and says, "Then who do you live with?" I said that I live with my parents and brothers. Then the kid looks even more confused and goes, "Wait ... I thought you were an adult." I know he didn't mean anything by it, but damn.

I'm a high school teacher. Once a student came up to me and said "Ms ____, has anyone told you that you look nice today?" I said "Aww. Thank you! They haven't." She then said "Good. I wanted to make sure no one was lying to you." And walked away.

Views are over-rated

Snapped in Taupo

A very small life

In 1938, Mihailo Tolotos died at age 82. He's considered to have been the only man to have lived such a long life "without ever seeing a woman". Tolotos, whose mother died at childbirth, lived all his years as a monk in one of Greece's Mt Athos monasteries, where only men are permitted.