The story is about my first day as a pre-degree student at the Bishop Moore College. We were led to the physics lab and I entered the lab with trembling feet. I was assigned the experiment "Common Balance" and the teacher asked me to do it ! I was seeing the equipment for the first time and knew nothing about it. I walked up to the apparatus and decided to "do" it. Seeing a knob I turned it gently and ....
"The pans fell down
And broke the pane
And the beam came tumbling after"
I started crying. I realised that my future was hanging on the (fallen) balance. I saw the lab assistant walking up to me with brisk steps. I feared, he was coming to beat me. But he walked up to the fallen balance and put things in place in less than ten seconds and left with sympathy (or contempt?) writ large on his face. "Great man. Great indeed", I told myself. With infinite appreciation for that man I decided to become a lab assistant in the future. But soon wisdom prevailed upon me and I heard some inner voice telling me, "to become a lab assistant one should know everything about the common balance and much more". And I never became one.
"The pans fell down
And broke the pane
And the beam came tumbling after"
I started crying. I realised that my future was hanging on the (fallen) balance. I saw the lab assistant walking up to me with brisk steps. I feared, he was coming to beat me. But he walked up to the fallen balance and put things in place in less than ten seconds and left with sympathy (or contempt?) writ large on his face. "Great man. Great indeed", I told myself. With infinite appreciation for that man I decided to become a lab assistant in the future. But soon wisdom prevailed upon me and I heard some inner voice telling me, "to become a lab assistant one should know everything about the common balance and much more". And I never became one.
No comments:
Post a Comment