" wohh great . It was such a huge help. I can't tell you "
"Don't do.. U know ..my links , they worked up . As the session has started , it would have been difficult otherwise ...but my links" - Mrs Sharma said in a flirtatious yet secretive tone.
" By the way .. What are you doing nowadays? " Mrs Sharma inquired.
" I teach. . I teach as a professor in microbiology at central medical college . Just got posted here a week back. "
" cool ! ..Pretty impressive .. .. Okk ohh i will have to go ..bye "
" see you .."
and the phone disconnected. Leena got back to kitchen.
Sam at this time was sitting before a river. Tall trees all around . A few flowers , huge stones , pure running water , fresh air, butterflies and a mild flowery fragrance. Every inch of the ground was covered with dry leaves which produced a crispy sound with every move.
Sitting on a rock piece , listening to the grasshopper's song, Sam opened his bag . He took out a book which was covered with a shiny white paper and with the red velvet the cover was written as - "The most beautiful moments ". Sam got that book from bedroom's almirah while her mom was busy setting the things around. Probably not a book , but an album , his own family album. The first page popped with a photo of his mom , his father and a little boy over father's lap. Looking at that he said in a faint voice - "That's me ..and my father ..and ..and my family " He turned the page. There was a cute kid in a tub filled with bubbles and foamy water. His mom was adding shampoo to the tub and father was firing water on the little one with a toy gun. The kid bears an expression of dodging the shots like a superhero , though smiling through tears due to shampoo. Looking at that Sam whispered again "that's me ".
He turned the page , turned again and kept on turning. It seemed like he was whirling through a time machine. He got lost. He kept the album with him secretely.
Sam had enough of a strong heart to tame his emotions. He didn't let even a single drop of tear pour down while he went through the album but the tides in his heart made him feel the pain.
"Sam ! Sam! ..where are you ? "
Came his mom 's voice approaching closer.
Sam quickly wrapped up his bag and then came his mom.
" where were you ? .. That's not a lake. Its our backyard. What the hell your gprs do..i was searching you everywhere. "
" neither a river exactly... sorry mom...but i didn't know , there's such a place so close. If i had known , i would have told you earlier. "
"Ohh Sam , i was worried..comeon now ! Dinner is ready. Its getting dark now."
"Okay "
Chapter 6
Next day in the morning, Leena packed up tiffin for Sam . Sam stuffed his bag with heavy books on maths, physics , chemistry and biology. He pulled his bag and drifted through the corridor to take his tiffin. Leena instructed him about lunch and told him that she would be back by six in the evening. Bus was horning loud. Sam ran towards the door bidding her mom "" bbie" .
He got inside the bus and stood there like an alien. Almost all the seats were occupied. Sam was being stared at like a stranger . Then came a voice from backseats "Hey ! there ..Sam , come on "
Hearing that , he followed the sound and sat with the guy.
" Hello ..I am Ankit . My mom told me about you. "
" ohh ..hello..My mom too told about you "
..and then suddenly came a lizard drifting through the air which landed right on Sam's shoes, along with a horrible sound ..woo..woouo.. and laugh outs came from a gang of juniors sitting nearby..a plastic toy it was.
"Probably a prank " said Ankit.
" Don't mind it...they are kids "
Then developed a sort of conversation between the two and finally after ten minutes, they were at the entrance of 'spring fields'. Ankit took Sam to the main corridor. Chaos... From smartly dressed to strangely dressed , all kind of students were to be seen. A few of them were dressed in grey shirts and black shorts with black striped navy tie . Some girls wore black skirts with grey shirts with their hair tightened up as high as possible into either a ponytail or braid. While rest like Sam and Ankit were roaming around in crazy colors.
" There is no uniform for us , i mean for seniors ..and now that we are in , we ain't need no uniforms"
" whao...i mean , whyy?"
" coz our principal is crazy like anything ...and ..and yes , i want to make it clear that here at spring fields , there are certain classes of students "
" wait ... What does that mean ?.. like ranks "
" not academic Sam , classes ..well introduced by students themselves. For instance..."
Pointing at a group of few fat boys and girls , he said " They are called as junkies and they desperately want to get off the title, but their stomachs don't let them ."
" and yeahh ..those skinny spectacled ones are known as bookworms . Their heirarchial generations just try hard to prove that they just got superior IQ's and no sort of mugging ...but"
Ankit laughed " we don't let them prove ... We just call them muggers "
"And certainly , high class fashion brandits ,..ehwwww ....i can vomit on their faces. Their attitude sucks ."
"You might just find one at a mall or club with thickly dabbed makeup and coolest accessories ever. " He sighed.
Then giving an awkward expression, Ankit repeated " And the ultimate goal we have in here is to stay away from any such class .."
"This all shit is contagious . Beleive me . " Ankit whispered .
"So ..you ain't got no class" Sam enquired .
"Not yet bro . we are the audience . We are free birds . Haha"
" Thank god ! ..phewww"
"Ohh ...comeon ! Run fast . Its chemistry class right now. C'mon
.."
They both ran towards the senior block and entered the class which was already set. Everbody was at their place and 'miss Mansi' , the chemistry faculty cum class incharge, stood there holding the marker near podium.
They both seeked permission to enter.
"You both are late"
"Sorry miss.." Ankit apologized.
"Anyways , so you are new , you must be Sam "
" yes miss , i am "
"Anyways , becoz its your first class , i am letting you people in"
Then she introduced Sam to the class and instructed him to take his seat. After a tedious lecture , she asked some questions . After each question Sam raised his hand high and being new , he was always given the chance. He answered all the questions correctly . "brilliant " - said miss Mansi and she left the class as the bell rang.
" I think , you have got into her favorites , infact on the top.."
" Really , but i did nothing "
" ohh ..stupid . you are right , you did nothing . Well you might have got into her favorites , but top isn't yours yet " - came a sweet but bold voice. A girl came and stood before their bench and after a second's pause of staring the new guy , she went straight out of the class.
" who was she? " - asked Sam .
" oh..just leave that .Tanvi , class topper..right now jealous of you. I wonder why isn't she called a bookworm . Beauty with brains ....ahh ..but i still think that she mugs , but you shouldn't worry at all . She is rude. "
" rude.. I don't think so . She is just a challenge " - said Sam laughing .
" What does that mean .." asked Ankit .
Sam recollected his words delivered wrongly -" i am sorry.. I just sometimes spill out nonsense"
" its okk ..but hey , i didn't know that you are that much intelligent. You made Tanvi burn , her ego scattered...u are a bookworm "
"Hey ! Don't call me mugger...and i had no intentions to make her burn "
"Take it easy . ..cool " said Ankit.
After school , Sam instead of going home went to the city library. He wanted to get some cool brand new stuff on physics.
Chapter 7
Sam with his bag on his back entered the city library . A mild lime
fragrance mixed up with wooden mist welcomed him. Probably the marble flooring was either moped with lime perfumed phenyl or there might have been an exotic lemon tinged air freshner. Huge but old stacks of books which smelled no less than petrichor and the silence was something which allured Sam always. Near the entrance , there stood a long reception table. That could have been smaller , but the designers owe the credit of creating something unusual . Over the table the black rook stood straight to fire the white pawn over a classical wooden chess board. The librarian sat curiously staring the pieces waiting for the young girl's trick sitting in front . The lady wore a blue top and pencil high heels , obviously she had a short height and her dry tangled hair swept upto her shoulders . She seemed more of a mess and her reluctant attitude to play was quite visible. Meanwhile Sam interrupted - " Excuse me sir , Where can i find journals on physics"
"If you want to borrow any book , You will need to get registeted first , but first go and look out some.. "
Pointing towards the lady , librarian said- " She is my assistant . She will help you with the way to science section ."
" but sir, i have some work, can't he look out himself ." -said the lady .
" yes, i will surely" - Sam replied.
" What work....Who will play this game now ? I know, you are gonna do nothing , except for dating someone. "
" Sir please.."
" ok ..fine , but this game "
"set a new one "
" I will play , sir .." said Sam .
" if you want .. I can" Sam repeated.
"You..are you sure . ...my play isn't easy to go with"
" mine too , sir " - Sam replied with a smile.Well now Sam forgot that he went there to read.
Their game propelled like anything . Soon , with quick tricks though sometimes with even more tricky pauses , game proceeded. It took about twenty minutes when the tricks ended up with Sam's victory.
"Check and mate ..and here i go. " .Sam slid his queen towards the other side to skid off the white king . A clean sweep to win. The librarian went dumbstruck for a moment but soon he recollected his shattered pieces of pride.
" and here i see another champ. Well played boy. "
" Thanku , sir"
" You know what.. you made me remember of one of my good friend. " Librarian said, lost in some thoughts.
" He was just like you . He turned every game like ..like , he was uncomparable. "
" was .? Did he.. Isn't he urr friend anymore .. "
" No, nothing exactly like this but sort of ... Avinash , he was"
" what ?"
" Avinash.." librarian repeated.
" Do you mean my father ..You knew him ? "
"Are you Sameer . When did you come here..this city "
" yes i am .. How do you know him?"
" he ..he just used to visit here often, he loved books ."
" ohh kid ..i know nothing more , " - he patted on Sam's back.
" just that he was a nice person ... Well now that i know you , i will get you registered myself . Just go upstairs to stack number sixteen on second floor "
" i am getting late dear , ...a tender for old books . I have to see"
" have a nice day ..boy"
" ..and yes, beware of that girl, my assistant. She acts weird. Well she is upto nothing evil , but she is looking over everywhere for a nice guy. Her parents want to get her married before she turns twenty five and so..are you getting me . " Librarian winked at Sam .
"Yeahh..a bit of"
" ok ..see you"
Then Sam moved forward passing inbetween huge sheves loaded with colorful books. Some stacks had books with antique tinge, yellow brown pages and their smell was no less than a pizza treat for him. As he was taking a turn, he noticed that lady with book in front of her face. Her eyes occasionally peeped from the top edge of the book giving a momentary glare at visitors passing by side. Was there a well programmed scanning chip installed in her brain which analysed boys for their compatibility. Sam obviously derived some weird logics.
As Sam was looking at her strange acts , she caught sight of him snooping her acts. Impulsively Sam turned his face away and the girl in blue top brisked her book down. Probably, she got a rough idea that she was caught . She felt embarrassed. "
With a feeling of shyness , she stood up and walked fastly towards the other corner. Meanwhile she accelerated, Sam again turned his sight back on the scene and after a few steps over her pencil heels, she stepped off to fall on a small shelf . ' bang ..even more louder as the silence amplified the crash.'
A person standing nearby started to laugh but intriguing to the situation , he stopped. Else came to rescue the girl . Librarian came running. Was he done with his tender! He scolded her for putting on heels at work. The girl was about to cry when Sam came running . " Excuse me sir! It wasn't her fault. "
Sam pointed towards a thin white thread whose one end was taught to the almirah and the other somehow got tangled to the handle of a shelf on the opposite side.
" I saw... Its this string which did it " Sam came to girl's rescue.
" who has put it here " librarian leaned forward to remove that.
Sam then moved from there and collected some comics and magazines on physics. He read them curiously sitting before a big glass window. He was deeply lost in the fictitious literature on time travel. Only after an hour his focus was interrupted by orange glow coming in from the window. It was a beautiful sunset. He stood straight before the window , lost in his own thoughts and looking at the serene sunset, ocean and coconut trees. Utter silence , only the 'tik tik' of huge wall clock hanging by the side. ..peace. Suddenly Sam remembered that he should go . Clock pointed five and a half. "Mom would be back soon " ..He went home and shared his first day's experience with his mom later at night .
Chapter 8
Next day in the school -
"Welcome everybody to the physics lab. This is going to be your first lab of the session till now. Well , i am your lab attendant temporarily as i would be resuming ' ascent innovate laboratories' as soon as the notice comes ."
"You may all take the seats"
Sam went forward and settled next to Ankit. Everything was white there, from chairs to tables and from walls to floor. Moreover the slabs and storage compartments were white as well. The side slabs looked messed up with scattered circuits , wires in yellow, red and blue , a lots of voltmeters, ammeters, meter scales, diodes, IC's and transistor kits . A set of vernier callipers, screw gauge and balance beams was also there. Someone must have forgot to stuff those all into cupboards and left them over there in the most random fashion. At the edge of another slab which was comparatively blank, there was a microscope. What the hell a microscope did there in a school's physics lab. Maybe people have started off using microscopes for analyzing micro electronics leaving more specialized tunneling techniques for biological analysis. Sam once again broke out with his most authentic logics which only and only he owed. The teacher started to flaunt physics. " Physics is everywhere . Its in here , its out there ..where isn't it"
" biology as well ...The reason why a microscope's here. Nowadays chlorophyll acts like - hey look at me , i am physics's cousin sister , dare you touch , i have electric current. I am hot, i give shocks! " - a student from back benches muttered slowly and the class burst out with laughter. After that the introductory lecture was done , teacher asked for doubts.
Then Sam asked " Do you think time travel bears any relevancy? ..sir "
"Well, it is beyond our syllabus, but i can tell you whatever little i know. Factually many scientists across the globe favor the scope of time travel . They are trying to correlate different mathemetical equations on speed and time to alter time's domain and to conclude anything. However , these fellows face huge opposition from others who needn't prove time travel's absurdness as this mission seems scarcely feasible.
Its being said that whatever matter we have explored till now is o
nly a small part of what actually exist. The rest is the mysterious matter rather called the 'dark matter'. We are still to explore more. Moreover it is also supposed that there are black holes all around , in all feasible sizes, as tiny as invisible to as huge as a planet , the densest of all . They are believed to be gateways for miracles, maybe for time travel as well. "
" Really ..Do you beleive that they exist ..sir"
"We can memorize our past, we can recall it , we can plan and predict our future , but the precision ...blurs it up. See, my concern or my thoughts are not of that importance. My points or views would be worthless for i am no one related to such mysterious sciences"
" but sir... Do you believe"
"Okk...any other questions"
" well no others .. So the class is dispersed for now"
All the students moved out . As Sam was about to head off , teacher called him . Sam went to his table . " By the way .. I do believe .." teacher winked at Sam with a smile and collected his register and pen to go out. Sam gestured him with a smile .
Chapter 9
At night , Ankit came to Sam's place as they earlier planned a night stay at Sam's home. Sam's mom set the dining table with sizzling dishes , dosas and cold drinks. The aroma of indian spices intensified their hunger. They did the dinner and Leena went off to kitchen for dishwashing. Getting a maid then was very difficult and saving shillings for Sam's future from what she earned was more of a challenge. She could have rented the villa when she wasn't here but both her innate and reluctance of people to buy it let the plans fail. No , the villa isn't haunted . Just is famous to bring strokes of unfortune. Days were hard for Leena, but she went through .
Sam and Ankit went upstairs to Sam's room and they worked out the assignments . They completed them all and this was the time when they curiously started to hunt for something interesting . Ankit had a million different topics to talk on starting from girls and ending to girls and Sam had other million topics starting from geeks and ending to geeks. They went on to discuss . " Ahh..am i falling for her. "
The Black Hole Page 2