by Ruskin Bond
The entire inside of the laboratory behind the glass door was visible. Brennan was sitting at the long laboratory table facing the main door, Agarwal was sitting close to Brennan facing him, and all of Virendra's students – Sreekanth, Mukul, and Varma, were standing close by listening to something Brennan was saying.
It was not obvious what the discussion was about, but from the expressions on the face of all of them it did not seem to be of joy. So, Virendra thought, as he took steps towards the glass door, nothing very positive probably had happened. Anyway, that was what would have been normally expected from the state Virendra left the machine in. Perhaps the parts made at the gate, after all, were not sufficiently accurate, and that was the reason a satisfactory installation could not be done. Virendra still had an answer, and he did not know a reason why that would fail. Virendra stopped at the glass door, took off his sandals, wiped his feet on the doormat, pulled the door out, and entered the inner laboratory.
As soon as Virendra entered the outer laboratory all of them saw him and turned their face towards the glass door, and waited for him to enter the inner laboratory. As Virendra entered, there seemed to be a hesitation about who would speak to him first. He sensed it, and as if to help initiate a conversation he said, 'Well, I am back after doing my assignment!'
There was no immediate response from anyone. That quiet surprised Virendra. In fact, he felt a tension. As the tension kept mounting, at one point Brennan opened up, 'Good to see you back. Actually we were waiting for you. I am afraid I have some bad news.' Brennan had started with some warmth, but soon his voice became toneless and he continued and completed rather matter-of-factly.
Virendra stood motionless and listened to Brennan. He became grave. He looked straight at Brennan's eyes and asked in a crisp voice, 'What is the bad news?'
'One of the two turbopumps has blown up,' Brennan answered.
Virendra understood like a flash what that implied. The two turbopumps were the heart of the vacuum system, and both were crucial. Absence of either of them meant that the machine would not be in a position even for any kind of diagnostic testing, let alone providing any micrographs. It meant the end of every effort. He appeared unmoved, but felt that the inside of his body was giving away; it was melting into a corrosive fluid and the vapour was burning into his bones. Still he appeared calm and collected from outside. But he was not to accept it just like that. He glanced at Sreekanth; his face was painful to watch; his eyes were glistening with the hint of tears.
'When and how did it happen?' Virendra asked.
'Well, we did a few tests with the electron optics after you left, to check whether the signal could be augmented further without opening the system up. That did not work. So before actually opening up the system I thought that I would check the pump control system. As I was setting up the relay switching limits, all of a sudden the system pressure started rising uncontrollably without limits; soon the relays tripped and when I checked the back, the front turbo had gone dead.'
'Even the mechanical pump of the front turbo was gone?'
'No, the mechanical pump was all right. But the turbo rotation speed meter showed zero. And of course, all other signs said that it was not pumping.'
'Did you get a chance to check the connection?'
'Surely.'
'Nothing there?'
'Nothing. In fact we did quite a bit more. And we now know what actually went wrong. When I found the connections were all right, I opened up the turbo control power supply and checked the various components and their outputs. A series of three transistors at the output stage had burned.'
'That's strange, there should not be any major input power fluctuations – that's coming through a stabiliser.'
'Your ground is not good.'
More than an incoming bit of information. Virendra saw in it a masked indictment. 'What do you mean?' he asked rather tersely.
'The ground and the common had five volts between them, it should have been near zero. With a supply like that it would be difficult for a switching-mode power supply to function satisfactorily. It is surprising that the pumps have worked thus far without problems.' Brennan's statements were matter of fact but the contents had considerable ramifications for Virendra to take them as an affront. It seemed that without either side intending, it was moving towards a collision.
'Could I see where you found that high a difference between the two lines?' Virendra inquired and made a gesture of stepping towards the equipment.
'I have already taken care of that — there were loose connections in the power lines.' Brennan said flatly and did not make any move from his sitting position.
First the charge, and then reluctance to show the evidence, annoyed Virendra. 'Well, besides this machine a number of instruments are running from the same power line. We have never had similar problems.'
Brennan shrugged. 'But that's the way I found it. A sensitive machine like this cannot work with a faulty power line.'
'In that case you should have checked the power line first before you started working. If you did not approve of the quality of supply, you should have refused to involve yourself with any part of the installation. Even before you came for this installation, maintenance engineers of your agents in this country have been here; if the power line was unsatisfactory, they should have reported that to you. You and your agents are doing the installation; the responsibility of checking that every service facility needed for the equipment is all right rests jointly with the suppliers, not with the customer. We are obliged to provide what you expressly require.' Virendra continued to be terse.
Agarwal was listening to this confrontation sitting next to Brennan. It seemed that he was not sure which side he should be on. He looked down towards the floor and weakly nodded in the affirmative to Virendra's comment. The students stood at one side, quietly but keenly following the proceedings.
Brennan chose not to comment on Virendra's assertion. There was a momentary silence in the laboratory. Virendra also refrained from making any other comment immediately. He walked to the electron microscope console, first took the envelope out of his right pocket, then took out the parts from the envelope and placed them on the console without saying anything. Everybody watched his moves, and then focused, to the extent it was possible, on the console where the parts were laid.
The intervening pause also gave Virendra time to calm down and compose himself. He knew the futility of arguing with an individual who was merely representing a company, had no part in designing the equipment; in fact, he had not even joined the company when this transaction took place. His anger and anguish was really against the overall design of circumstances that was both impenetrable and inescapable. And against himself.
He had no choice but to be involved in this because that was only what he was capable of doing and was attracted to doing. He could give up, but then all the effort that he had put in to learn a specialisation and skill would have been a waste. Neither he, nor his university, nor the country would have derived anything out of it. Not even the intangible satisfaction of trying something relentlessly. He stayed away from his home and his family in hope, and was returning with hopelessness. It seemed what he was aiming to achieve, an equality with the developed world that stood hundreds of miles ahead, was an impossibility. Ten thousand miles from a modern world of science, where in response to a phone call equipment arrived, spare parts arrived, repairs got done, work got under way. Unless the chief desire was to burn out, it was meaningless to attempt such an involvement. This was an island, the activities should have been what were naturally supported here, not otherwise. Regardless of what the dictates of the indomitable human spirit were, and Virendra at this moment thought them stupid, there was a time and place for everything. But he was already in a trap.
As these thoughts passed quickly through Virendra's mind while he paused in front of the machine, he wondered how to resume the conversation again. He did not find an answer to this question. He looked at t
he machine, then, as if he had some business, he walked away from it and past the students towards the other laboratory leaving the entire company in this room. Nobody reacted to that in any way—rather everyone wondered what Virendra would do next—after all, he was the man in charge here. In the other room, Virendra had no work; he simply stood in front of the laboratory table and pondered for a few minutes. Then in anger and dejection he shouted, 'Damn, damn!' But nobody heard anything. Nobody entered the inner laboratory either; they waited outside.
A few minutes later, the inner laboratory door opened, Virendra emerged and walked in and stopped close to where Brennan was still sitting. He looked at Brennan and rather calmly asked, 'What do we do now?'
'I was thinking about that,' Brennan said, his voice did not have a hint of the brashness with which he was talking a while ago, 'and I believe we can do several things. First, and it would be ideal, if we could get a spare card for the turbo-control power supply. But such possibilities do not exist here, and I don't think Mr Agarwal's outfit has such a stock either. However, I think that this turbo pump is still under the warranty period, and we may still get a replacement from the original manufacturers from whom we bought it. But if that is not possible, our technicians are good at repairing them. If I could take the control unit with me, within a couple of weeks' time I could send the replacement. However, the difficulty is that I cannot do that without your preparing a lot of documentation for customs purposes, and from what I have heard, for this purpose, maybe you also need Reserve Bank clearance.'
'Furthermore,' Virendra added, 'for bringing it back, we need NMI and DE certification again; definitely DE, otherwise a lot of duty would be charged.'
'But if you can't send this unit back, could you give me another purchase order for an additional control unit?' Brennan asked. 'In that case, it will constitute a new order; and I will try to get it despatched as soon as possible.'
'That's not possible, that grant has no more money to pay for any more equipment,' Virendra answered.
'In that case I don't see any other alternative to your arranging the documents for sending it back to us for repair. The best I could do would be to impress on the management the urgency of the situation, and find out if they will agree to send a replacement control unit.'
'That would take months!'
Brennan did not answer. He probably agreed with Virendra's assessment. The quiet tended to get Virendra drawn into thoughts of despair again, but he resisted with utmost effort. He forced himself to hope and said, 'Perhaps you can persuade your organisation that it is to their interest to get this problem solved as soon as possible; and perhaps they will see the point of sending a spare control unit; in fact, an output card would do the job. That should be practically no expense at all.'
'I'll try,' Brennan said.
'But that does not solve the original problem, that of seeing a signal when actual surface adsorption takes place. What is to be done about that?'
'Well, I brought the electron optics augmentation arrangement, but could not test it. Incidentally, did you succeed in getting the stainless parts made in town? What your student brought from the nearby workshop was useless.'
'Yes,' Virendra said. The entire journey in the hot sun and the whole experience passed through his mind.
'Could I have a look at them?'
'Yes. I have kept them there.' Virendra indicated the microscope console.
As Virendra said this, Brennan got up from his chair and walked to the console. He picked the parts up and returned to his chair. He looked at the parts closely and said, 'Looks good.' Then he looked up to Sreekanth and asked, 'Could you give me the callipers?'
Sreekanth went to the far end of the laboratory table, pulled out a desk drawer and took out the box containing the callipers. He returned to Brennan and handed over the box to him. Brennan opened the box with one hand, took out the callipers and let them rest on his lap, placed the box on the laboratory table, and then picked up the callipers and started taking measurements of the dimensions of the parts.
His reactions as he proceeded with the measurements were almost like they were Virendra's when he made the measurements in the workshop. The only difference in the response was whereas for Virendra it was a mixture of surprise and satisfaction, in this case the extent of surprise was much more and there was a hint of anguish. It seemed that he could not believe that the parts were indeed accurately machined and the distress probably came because presently they were useless.
He had formed a contemptuous opinion of the local machining ability from the parts machined at the gate; now he had reason to revise his views. He looked at Virendra and said, 'They are absolutely all right. I am impressed.'
Virendra did not respond. Brennan in the next moment was deeply absorbed in thought; his gaze fixed upon the distant microscope. One would have guessed that he was contemplating possible ways of salvaging the non-working equipment. But no clear solution was emerging; probably his situation was not simple; his loyalty to his company's formal stand, his hesitation in admitting any faults in the basic design even if he recognised them, his inclination to be helpful, his uncertainty about the extent the local conditions were responsible for the present failure, all acted together to make a decision difficult. After a while, almost in the same sudden way he had got lost in thought, he returned to the present. From what he said it was obvious that he did not want to share all his inner thoughts with the present assembly.
But before Brennan could say anything, Agarwal meekly interjected, addressing himself half to Brennan and half to Virendra, 'Doctor saab, what happened today is unfortunate. We will follow it up from our Delhi office and do our best to get a quick replacement of the control unit or the card. But right now, Doctor saab, you and Dr Brennan should discuss and decide the final steps to be taken. Dr Brennan, this should be done soon, because it is already four-thirty; if we do not leave within the next half hour, we shall miss the flight.'
'Yes, I am aware of that,' Brennan said without looking at Agarwal, 'but I have to do a few things with the machine before we sit down for a final discussion. We have to seal up the vacuum system manifold for the electron optics section and also put back some of the control unit connections that I was checking.' Then he looked at Virendra and said, 'Professor Chauhan, MatTech requires its field service personnel to take back with them a report from the customer about the work accomplished. I would appreciate if you could give me something in writing to take to MatTech. Surely you may write whatever you feel like.' He paused. Virendra did not immediately respond. Brennan did not understand what that silence meant. Brennan continued, 'May I expect a report from you?'
'Yes. I have no objection to reporting on today's proceedings,' Virendra said.
Brennan got up from his chair and said, 'If you would please write it, I shall use that time to attend to the small work that needs to be done here.'
'All right,' Virendra said. He was still grave. He looked at Sreekanth and said, 'Sreekanth, can you help me type the report? You are quite fast. Is the typewriter in the other room?'
'Yes, sir,' Sreekanth said, and started walking towards the other laboratory. Virendra followed him. Brennan walked towards the machine, and when he reached there, he turned around to Mukul and Varma and said, 'Perhaps you could help me here.' Mukul and Varma went forward to help Brennan. Agarwal kept sitting on his chair; only he turned his body around to face the machine; from the foxlike gaze of his eyes but an otherwise poker face nobody could guess what was going on in his mind.
Sreekanth and Virendra entered the other room, and Virendra pulled the door softly behind them. Virendra looked at the long laboratory table, and could see the typewriter at the far end. He sat down on one of the chairs, stretched his legs through the opening under the table, let his arms go at his sides, and leaned back. Sreekanth still remained standing. Virendra suddenly sat up straight and said to Sreekanth, 'Sit down.' Sreekanth did not say anything. He quietly sat down on a chair to the right o
f Virendra. Virendra with a slightly lowered head was gazing at the varnished plywood which was the table top. When he saw that Sreekanth had taken his seat, Virendra said, 'I am sorry for you Sreekanth, very sorry. We have failed again. It is your ill luck to be born in this country and be interested in doing modern scientific research. And I am guilty of abetting. But crucifying me won't help anything.'
Sreekanth did not respond. Virendra remained quiet for some time. Silence continued in the room. Then he said, this time turning his head towards Sreekanth, 'Don't worry. We will not give up. Something will happen. The last word won't be said until the final smoke comes up.'
'Yes, sir.' Sreekanth made a polite response.
'All right then,' Virendra smiled, painfully. 'Give me a piece of paper. And let me give them a piece of my mind.'
Sreekanth got up from his chair with a smile. He walked up along the table and pulled a desk drawer near the middle of the table. He took a few sheets of paper from there, pushed the drawer back, returned to Virendra and handed him the sheets.
Virendra took the sheets and put them on the table. Then he took his pen and paused, trying to concentrate on what he was going to write. Sreekanth waited until then; then he turned around and walked towards the far end of the table. When he reached the place where the old typewriter was, he examined the machine by pressing keys here and there, then he took out his handkerchief and cleaned it somewhat, and sat down there on a chair. He picked up a piece of paper lying on the table, pushed it around the roller, and typed a few characters. The ribbon was rather old, the print came out somewhat faded, but it was readable. He then got up and returned to the desk drawer where he had taken the paper out; he took some more paper out, took out also a box of carbon paper, and returned to the typewriter. He was ready to type, but he realised it would take Virendra some more time to prepare the draft. He decided to go out of the laboratory for a few minutes. He went past Virendra through the door, and while passing said briefly, 'I'll be back soon.' Virendra nodded; he knew these brief outings were for a few puffs of cigarette smoke. Virendra himself did not smoke, but a brief recollection went past Virendra's mind that many of his students did.