The ultimate subatomic break down!

We were in the middle of dinner when Zyed suddenly stopped and raised his head happily and asked me: “Mumma what did you make this with, this is very yummy”. I told him the ingredients. He was satisfied and got back to his eating. After a few seconds he stopped chewing and looked at me and this time even I stopped chewing. He then asked me: “Mumma what did you make me with?” I was not sure I heard him right and I asked him to repeat his question. He asked me again, “what am I made of?” I was sort of relieved and told him, “Well, you are made of flesh and bones and blood”. I guess he got what was bone and blood. He asked again, “what is flesh?”

I said “flesh is your skin and the tissues beneath it.”

So then “what is tissue made of? Is it that paper napkin we wipe our hands? Is THAT what makes my flesh?”

Now this was getting deeper. But I did not want to curb his curiosity and decided to see where this goes. So we continued. I said “No it isn’t THAT tissue.” It took me some time to respond and I finally said getting to the elementary level, “Tissues are made of carbon and hydrogen. Those are the basic constituents of any matter.” I went on to explain that we are made up of the same carbon and hydrogen that makes every matter like wood, plastic, metals and every other matter. He was surprised.

“So you mean to say that you made me with the same thing as they made the table with?” You! They! Good questions and analysis coming from a 5 year old. I was sort of stuck. Few classes of organic chemistry flashed before my eyes…I couldn’t even recollect how many years before they were but I could recollect what feelings of helplessness those classes brought!

So I went on to say “Yes. We are all made of Carbon and Hydrogen and Oxygen and few other elements (all that I could remember from the Periodic Table), in different proportion”.

So he asked, “Books?” I said “Yes”.

“Glass?” I said “Yes.”

“Car?” “Yes.” My son was in misery.

A frown crossed his little forehead and he said, “Mumma if you were little careful while making me, I could have been Lighting McQueen. Why are you so careless?”(Now he was just repeating a question he heard his dad ask very often!) I had many answers to respond to that and while I was battling in my head as to which one I must shoot, here comes the next question.

“So how did they make carbon?” THEY? I asked him “WHO they?” He said, “Oh you know, Allah Allah.” That is how God is phrased for him. I was amused that he somehow figured out that all other things was made by God and he was made by me! Though I was not sure where he picked up the idea from, that was quite a moment. Nonetheless he continued staring at me and I had to come out of the momentary bliss and answer his question. And with each question, he was drawing before me more clearly the face of my high school chemistry teacher, Pratibha Kohli. I couldn’t believe that 5 year olds would ever be interested in what carbon was! And I could hear Mrs. Kohli telling me “See Sumeera you better pay attention or you are going to be sorry”. I was beginning to see she was right. Now I dint want to pull out my google tab in between dinner and set a bad example for my little nerd. So I wrack my brain for few miserable moments and tell him carbon is made of atoms. And though not sure of it, before he asked I said atoms are further made of subatomic particles called protons, neutrons and electrons. And that’s it. They are the smallest things. No more break down.

So he is asking me “Show me one proton.”

I faint. 

Poem of the week

Navaz handed me a copy of the Read Magazine he was reading in the tube today morning. And the first page had this poem. It was a pleasant surprise to see these beautiful words. Reminded me of my English Text Book in school. 

" Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep."

Brought back fond memories and definitely made my day!

Three People in my life

I was reading a book and it required me think about three people who made magical differences in my life. It dint take me a long time to figure out who these people were, though I was in this thought exercise for the first time. But I was surprised that all three of them turned out to be my teachers. Mr. Benjamin Daniel and Ms. Priya Menon both taught me in Indian School in Oman and Dr. Leena Sen was my Soft Skills trainer in my Post Graduation at IBS, Mumbai. This discovery tripped me to write this. I want to thank all three of them for making me the person I am today, for touching my life and directing me through a way that was the best for me. And sadly I realize that I did not take that path. Not for a long time. 

Mr. Daniel joined my school when I was in grade 7, as my Geography teacher. He taught us English in the next few years. He was the one who brought so many differences and positive changes in our school. His influence on me was phenomenal. He came to the school as the replacement for one of our best teachers, Mr. Ajay Samuel and to be honest, we did not like him at first. But then slowly with him, school became not just studies and boring activities. School became fun. I would like to think about him as a person who initiated free thinking and encouraged us to do everything that we wanted to. To dream, to scream, to laugh out loud, literally. He was amazing in bringing out the creative part in all of us. And I slowly picked up interest in reading and especially, literature. Today when I look back, I understand that it was my first introduction to the world of endless possibilities. Many years after school, we re-connected and how proud I felt when he told me that I was his best student. Thank you, sir.

Ms. Priya Menon was a very beautiful woman. She made us go crazy about books and by the time we were in high school, I became a voracious reader. I fell in love with words. She trained us for extempore competitions and recitations and took us for inter school fests. Once in class she asked us a synonym for the word "saturated" and said anybody who answered will get a treat from her. I did. The word was "satiated". She made me having said it look like an achievement and she took me to Burger King the next day. Now, they seem like those small, trivial things that made the big revolutions in me. Things that gave a different aura for the teacher community in our minds. She was a part of all the fun that we had after school, when we went for tutions and yoga...wow! Those were the best days of my life! I have never before actually thanked her, but have always thought about her with gratitude.

And it was all crazy time in Mumbai. The place was new and people were strange. Dr. Sen was an elderly lady who was very strict and particular especially about dressing and etiquette. Obviously because she was the Soft Skills trainer and one of the eldest among our faculty. She was also the author of the book “Communication Skills” which was the text book for Business Communication in many B Schools. And she didn't like me! We, from her first very first class, seemed to have born hating each other. Well, the reason could have been my immensely poor behaviour and lack of attention in her initial classes, though I am not very sure about it. I had started dreading her classes, and I really struggled to make an impression on her because it was impossible to get ahead in class without good grades in Soft Skills. As days passed, it became difficult for me to go on unless there was some positive energy flowing between us. So there came an activity where we had to speak for 5 minutes about anything that we liked. I chose poetry, for obvious reasons. I spoke on the one poem that has been my favourite always, "My Prayer" by Max Ehrmann. Dr. Sen had given a timer to someone and had asked to stop the speaker in exactly five minutes. I thought my speech was short but I had not finished reciting few lines of the poem after my five minutes and the buzzer went on. I prepared to leave without completing my lines and Dr. Sen gave me a privilege which she did not give any of my classmates. She stopped the buzzer and asked me to continue. I still remember my knees going weak at that moment with excitement. I finished my speech with these lines:

"And though age and infirmity overtake me,
And I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams,
Teach me still to be thankful for life and time's olden memories that are good and sweet
And may the evening's twilight find me gentle still".

I had made my statement. After the huge applause died down, Dr. Sen got up and came to me and told in front of the whole class, "You impressed me. You did not speak, you kissed the words".  And I almost fainted. And she became my best mentor and her classes became my favourite and I became known among my friends as the Kisser of Words :) We discussed so many books and authors late after class hours and she became much more than a teacher to me. She is not among us anymore. I came to know about her death few years back and all I can remember was that I could not speak for hours. I felt so much silence inside me. I have never been able to forget the look in those kind eyes.

These three great people taught me one thing in common. That life was all about identifying your destiny. I made all the wrong choices and here I was, struggling to get up and learn to walk once again, wishing that my school teachers were here to help me. But though they are not here, I had something in me that they taught. Gratitude and hope! I wonder if all three of them remember the few discreet hours we spent discussing gratitude. Though I understood nothing then, I am now aware of the immense power of being thankful for all that life has blessed me with. And the glowing light of hope inside me would lead me. I made mistakes, I learned from them. Ruins are the flames to improvement. So it's alright to fall out sometimes. And I made one big choice to leave behind my experiences and start afresh. Life doesn't come with a user's catalog. Not that I always speak in bumper stickers,  it is just that I know that I can, and I will soon be able to pull up once again and say to myself, Attraversiamo, means in Italian, let's cross over!