I was teaching 'Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility' to MBA Students in an Economic Class

The Law Of Diminishing Marginal Utility states that all else equal as consumption increases the marginal utility derived from each additional unit declines 1/n

I was explaining how utility (benefit) derived from the first cup of coffee diminishes by the time you sip the second cup when a girl student walked in late. She was a nurse in a military hospital. 2/n

She greeted everyone and apologized saying her husband just landed on a visiting visa that day and hence she was late for the class.

I could empathize with her

Continuing where I let off, I took her as an example, and told the class 3/n

"Raji's (name changed) is a classic case of Diminishing Marginal Utility. The Utility she will have of having her husband today will diminish after a couple of days"

The Class roared with laughter, attaching a sexual meaning to it (all were executive MBA Students) 4/n

She was perplexed and didnt understand what was going on. I was a bit embarrassed too as I did not intend to mean it that way.

When she came to know the background and the topic on hand, she laughed the loudest 5/n

She completed her course and I lost contact with her. 5 years later, I was near the Gold Shops in Souk Wattaya, when I heard a female voice shouting "Rajan Sir, Rajan Sir"

I turned to see her running to meet me. She was extremely happy to see me and enquired about me 6/n

A few minutes later her husband carrying their 3 year old girl joined us.

Raji told him "This is Rajan sir. My MBA Faculty. I have told you about him"

Apparently he couldnt recall.

She reminded him "Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility" 7/n

His face lit up like a 1000 W bulb and he pumped my hand vigorously with a beatific smile and said pointing at his daughter,

"She is the outcome of the Utility"

I laughed at his sense of humour and bought a small gold ear drops for the child as a gift n/n