Vigyani- serial story

Dear Ladies,

This is one of my dream story and I would like to dedicate it to President Abdul Kalam. In this story I would like to bring the plights of many Indian scientists both men and women who have put India as one of the super powers in scientific brains. Again, this is a story written as a movie script and if I can make it into a movie, I would like to have either Kamal Haasan or Rajani Kanth in the title role.


Episode 1:


Early morning in a village in the cauvery delta. One of the residents, Anjalai gets up hurriedly as she was late for pouring water in the front yard and draw her favourite kolam. Even as she opens her door and enters the front yard with a bucket of water, a broom and a small box with kolam powder, she notices people in groups standing and talking. Also, she sees quite a few people walking on the road leading from village and going to the railway station few miles away. Overcome by curiosity, she catches hold of a boy and asks what is going on. The boy replies, ' Below the banyan tree on the way from station to the village a samiyar(saint) is found sleeping. I am also going there'. Anjalai drops the routine of putting kolam and joins the boy. Even as they reach the banyan tree they find large number of people have surrounded it. Managing to have a peep, Anjalai sees a man with beard and long hair in pant and shirt sitting in the middle.


One of the lady says, 'Sammi ethuvum pesa maatenkuthu. Ellarum vilundu kumbittalum saami sirichukittu iruke ozhiya, oru viboothi kunkumam koduthuchina, namma kashtam poi vidivu varum. hoom, ennatha solla?'. ( ' the saint is not talking anything. Even if all people fall at his feet he keeps smiling only and not distribute the sacred ash or kumkum which will bring an end to our sufferings. Hoom, what can I say?')


Some elderly people from the village manage to reach the front and stand close to the man who the people call as samiyar. One elederly gentleman with his hands close to the mouth in an obedient posture asks the man, 'Saami engirundu varuthu. Saamiku tamil theriyuma?' ( 'where from the saint has come and do you know Tamil?'). The man who is addressed as saami has a big laugh and says, 'Ayya, naan oru saamiyar illai. En dhadi meesaiyai vaichu appadi ninaikatheenga. Naan oru vigyani, Mumbai le irundu varen' ( 'Sir, I am not a saint. Please don't think I am a saint from my beard and moustach. I am a scientist coming from Mumbai'). When he told like this, the silence among the people who had assembled breaks and people start talking among themselves. The common question asked by everyone is ' Vigyani na yaaru?' (' Who is a scientist?').


To be continued.....

 

Dear Blondie,

I am glad to know that you are interested in the story. I do accept your suggestion and I am putting english translation to the tamil dialogues. BTW are you a scientist as well?. I know few famous women scientists in India, ike Dr. Kundala (I hope the name is right) famous bio-chemist from Madurai University, Dr.Indira from Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam, Dr. Usha Rodrigues from BARC and others. You can update and add to this list and perhaps start a thread to bring to limelight the women scientists in India.

Regards,

TDU

Regards,

 

Episode 2:

Who is a scientist? is the question going around the crowd gathered around. The silence is broken by a young boy who says 'I know who is a scientist'. People surround him and ask him to tell. The boy says,' Scientist is a person wearing long white coat, having a small beard and wearing power glasses. Scientist generally finds some secret which is very valuable'. He quotes a M.G.R movie 'Ulakam Sutrum Vaaaaliban' which was screened in the village theater not long ago in which a scientist comes like what he described. Another boy who has visted Chennai also agrees with him and quotes a Hindi movie Mr.India in which the scientist finds the secret formula to make one invisible.

Listening to all this the scientist from Mumbai has a big laugh and says,' A scientist is no magician and neither can he find a secret. What he discovers is actually the existing truth which is not perceived by everyone. He dreams a lot and tries to explore the truths of nature by systematic observations, applications of theories formulated earlier and arrives at logical conclusions'. People listen to him with their mouths open and are not able to follow what he said. An elderly man says,' We do not follow what you say, sir. Can you please say what secret you have discovered?.

The scientist from Mumbai says, 'Before I go to explain what I have discovered, let me give details about me. My name is Raman named after Sir C.V. Raman by my parents in the fond hope that one day I will become a great scientist like him and win Nobel Prize. My grandfather was the headmaster of the school in this village and my father had migrated to Mumbai in search of a white collar job. I was born and brought up in Mumbai and my father used to describe the village, especially the great Cauveri river. He used to tell me how the river used to flow perenially and how agriculture and the wealth of village flourished'.

Even as the scientist was giving details about him there is a commotion among the crowd as one person has brought a copy of the days' newspaper in Tamil. An advertisement in the paper said,
' Beware of a lunatic escaped from the mental hospital in Mumbai. The man will proclaim himself to be a scientist and will say he is in possession of a very important discovery. He is dangerous and can turn violent. Inform nearby police station if you spot him' and there was a photograph of the scientist from Mumbai, Mr.Raman.

To be continued..........

 

Dear manjula,

The ending of last episode is not a pre-intervel knot since still there is number o episodes to go before an intervel can be thought off. The ending was mainly to arouse curiosity and interest in the story.

This story is in no way resembling the Ramar Pillai episode. I am aiming at a much higher level than a cheap commercial stunt done by him. I want to bring the aspirations and the trials and tribulations faced by a real scientist who is prevented from achieving his dreams by the system and the society that he lives in.

Regards,

TDU

 

Episode 3:

As every one in the crowd wants to have a peep at the paper, it is taken by the Village chief who shows his hands for every one to keep quite. He shows the news on the paper to Mr.Raman and asks him, ' What is this sir?'. Raman says,'It is a lie that I am lunatic. It is false propaganda by some villanous people who want to stop me from achieving my dream'. The village chief is not convinced and he casts a suspicious look at Mr.Raman. Mr. Raman says,' Let me tell my complete story, then perhaps you will beleive me. As I said before my grandfather Mahalingam was the headmaster in this village school'. Even before Mr. Raman ties to continue, some elderly people come forward and say in chorous,'Oh, you are the grandson of that greatman Mahalingam'. They turn to the village chief and plead with him that the grandson of Mahalingam can never do wrong and we should give him a chance to tell his full story.

The village chief says, ' O.K, please tell us why you have come to this village all the way from Mumbai and before that tell us what is your dream that others are not allowing you to realise?'. Mr. Raman says,' My dream is to produce a perennial water supply from air'. Even as he spoke like this, the whole crowd breaks into laughter and one person comments,' What the newspaper says seems to be correct. Water from air, ha ha ha.........'. Everyone joins him mking fun of Mr. Raman.

To be continued.....

 

Episode 4:

As more and more people gather, the news spreads that the new person is not a saint, but calls himself a scientist who can bring water from air. The news also spreads that he is a lunatic escaped from a mental hospital in Mumbai. As the noise level becomes unbearable with eveyone discussing about the scientist Raman, the villge chief ties to restore order by raising his hands and asking everyone to keep quite. He succeeds after some time and then addresses Mr. Raman saying, ' we do not know whether you are a genuine scientist or not. Nor do we know anything about science. But, it is a fact that our village is suffering due to the lack of water in the Cauvery river. We do not care whether you bring water through your science or the Karnataka people give us the water. All we want is that we should continue our agriculture and we should get back to our glorious past. Since the water to be given by Karnataka people looks uncertain now, I think we can give you a chance. But, you have to somehow prove to us that you have genuine intentions'.


One of the village elders objected to the village chief's offer, saying, ' It looks like knowing our problem of water in the Cauvery river, he must have come to our village with some ulterior motives. We have to be careful in allowing him to settle down and continue in our village. He seems to be proving the newspaper message that he is a lunatic when he says he can produce water from air'.


As everyone starts to agree with the elderly person, Mr. Raman folds his hands with tears rolling down his cheeks. He says,' Please beleive me. I have no intention of cheating you. As I have already told you, my grandfather who hails from this village was very sad when he read the news about the Cauvery water dispute. He took an oath from me saying, 'If you are a real scientist and want to achive something in life discover a way to solve this problem. He also cited a Thirukural from the great saint Thiruvalluvar saying


தோன்றில் புகழொடு தோன்றுக அஃதிலார்
தோன்றலில் தோன்றாமை நன்று


( When you are born you achieve fame, otherwise it is as good as you are not born)


From that day, I thought and thought, worked very hard, had sleepless nights to discover the truth of coverting air into water. My wife deserted me since engrossed in work I neglected her. My best friend cheated me since I was oblivious of things happening around me. Please beleive me and try to understand the struggles and pains I have undergone in this discovery'.

Even as the crowd is wondering whether to beleive him or not, Mr. Raman takes from his suitcase a small machine. Opening the machine he shows around saying, ' You can see there is no source of water or any connection to water pipe'. He switches on the machine and after some wait, keeps a glass under the tap in the machine. Much to the surprise of evryone, when he opens the tap, water flows into the glass.


To be continued.....

 

Episode 5:

Seeing the water flow, the crowd becomes silent and slowly people recover from their surprise. The village chief says to Raman, ' this looks more like a magic to us. Please tell us how do you get water in the machine'. Raman says, ' There is no magic in this. This machine has a pump working on batteries and when I switch on the pump draws air and forces it through a screen we call as membrane. The screen removes the moisture in air and condenses it to water and collected water comes down through the tap at the bottom'. The village chief says,' This means if there is no moisture in air there will be no water'. One other elderly person says,' Quantity of water is very small. How you are going to fill the Cauvery river with this water?'. Mr. Raman laughs and says,' I do agree with you. This machine I showed you just to give a glimpse of what science can do. This machine made in more numbers can solve the problem of drinking water in households. Surely, this water can never even make the cauvery river bed wet. I have discovered another machine which cannot be shown here because it is huge and I have to assemble it. This machine has huge pumps forcing air into the machine where hydrogen and oxygen from air will be separated and will be combined into a molecule in the proportion of two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom as in water, so we get water from air. I have already tested a smaller machine and if you people cooperate I can build the huge machine on the banks of Cauvery and let the water flow perenially'.

The village chief is awed by Raman's words and he senses truth in his words as do some other elderly persons. But, some others murmur,' Ithu etho pokatha oorukku vazhi solrathu maathiri irukku. Enna than nadakuthunu paarpom' ('This looks like telling way to a place which cannot be reached. Anyway let us see what happens').

Suddenly, the village chief realises that they have been holding Mr. Raman who must be dead tired after travelling from Mumbai. So, he orders some youngsters to take cycles and go to village, get the vacant house used to host visitors cleaned. He also tells few ladies to prepare some food for Mr. Raman. Afterwards, he asks some youngsters to carry Mr. Raman's luggage. He then invites Mr. Raman,' Come on, let us go the village. You must be tired. We are sorry that we made you stand all the while. Your grandfather is the most respected figure in the village and we have to honour you whether you get us water through your science or not'. Thus, led by the chief and escorted by the entire village, Mr. Raman starts walking towards the village.

To be continued.....