Our
trip to Sangli for the state level Inspire award 2013
We
started our trip in the morning at about 9:00 AM with all the project material
on board including the fantastic bricks Tamaghna had made. We went to the
hospital and later picked up Mr. Anthony (science teacher) from the police line
area, Ratnagiri and started for Sangli. This was our first trip for the City
and we were all planning a fun –trip. The weather was wet and cold with the
wind screen fogging more from within due to condensation than the fog outside.
I am a slow driver. I took my time to drive through the ghats of Kokan enjoying
the beauty of shayadri. We talked of odds and ends and heard Michio Kaku on the
CD talk of impossible science related to the near and far future. The air was
full of science in mind. We saw and described so many small phenomenon of wind
and breeze which displayed the beauty of daily life science as if try to
understand what Prof Kaku had said about the a life without the knowledge of
science. I no time we were in Kolhapur
and halted at the Ayodhya hotel to have lunch.
From
Kolhapur to
Sangli was a travel via a road full of trenches which boldly declared the
welcome into an old city. The twin city of Miraj and Sangli have often been called the
city of the retired. It is known to be a calm and quite part of the state with
sugar mills and fruit gardens. I didn’t take much time to reach the destination
– Sangli high school where the registration needed to be done for the science
exhibition. Indeed many people had come to the centre with many types of constructs
to prove their little imaginations true- and so had Tamaghna.
The
process of registration was short and quick and so was the place for display-
this was better than the facilities available in the other centers. I
remembered my childhood when I had attended one science exhibition. I too had
wanted to participate to make a …. But did not do it. It remained in my dream
and somebody else took the table away. The imagination did not die away. Years
later I very well realized that the idea was already an area of well developed
science and it was indeed a good idea but empty with out the math to back up.
In such science exhibition there are always two types of evaluators – one who
will be impressed by the practical utility of the machine or the final product
and the other by the simple and simply the concept of the ides and its
scientific evidence. How the both can be put forth in front of the critic is
what has made a successful project.
We
chose a hotel to stay- hotel sadananda- over night which was about 2 Km from
the school. The stay was not to stay
without discomfort. We took some time out to review our project and slept over
a story of ‘Ramesh and Ganpatesh’.
Log
21/09/2013
The
morning broke early. It was a bright and sunny day and we freshened up quickly.
Tamaghna was excited about the day to come. He enthusiastically prepared
himself and clarified some of his doubts about the project. I could see the
sparkling focus in him. He was confident and happy that he had made a Brick – a
brick which till the present stage had stood all the recommended tests. We
departed from the hotel and reached the school by about 9:00AM to setup our
work. It was interesting to see the small and big thoughts that had been placed
on display showing the diversity of thought that this country’s children had. I
was intrigued by many a constructs of ploughing machines to weighing machines
and cart made ambulance.
It also gives us an idea of the need of people at the
very grass root level. Laptops and smart phones somehow do not make there
position here because the needs of the people appear to be very different for
the everyday life. At about 4:30PM the examiner came and made a very cursory
evaluation of the projects and left. Tamaghna was very disappointed since he
was not heard enough. Well that’s part of the training – frustration tolerance.
He has to learn it and work beyond the frustration so that his creativity
doesn’t get killed. We ended the day by checking into another hotel, visiting the
mall, eating and sleeping. Reflecting back to the emotions that we dealt with –
making and breaking , winning and loosing , heard and not heard – it all
culminated in our pursuit for being recognized as having done something – and
something good. And this probably arises from our base fear of being told that
“you have done nothing”. As a father I told my son that he has made a brick and
it didn’t matter in any other way. We should learn to live with this conviction
first so that our ability to think and make more doesn’t get sacrificed.
Tomorrow is another day.
Log
22/09/2013
Yes,
tomorrow is another day and it inevitable comes as to today. We woke to freshen
and feel nice for the days exhibition. We spent time getting ready and left the
hotel for breakfast at the nearby joint – Navratna. We enjoyed south Indian
food and then walked to the exhibition venue. The day was warm but pleasant
with the early morning hustle and bustle yet to start on the city roads. It was
a short distance to the Sangli high school.
The mood the day before was one of
dejection and disappointment. But Tamaghna had already decided that he was no
longer going feel depressed. He had decided to enjoy the day and later submit
the project to the website of the ‘ Department of Science and Technology”. But
soon after reaching the atmosphere started getting tense and boring. The same
anxiety and the same complaints started. The announcements were organized for
certain districts which made us feel even worse because we felt ignored. Tamaghna
was completely dejected and depressed. He hardly wanted to wait any more. Mr
Anthony was generous enough to give him words of confidence and support. He
gave him cautious hopes of a 2nd round of evaluation. At about 4:00
noon Tamaghna went to see another project and suddenly in the most unexpected
of situations the examiners turned up for inspection of his project. I was not
sure which way he had gone. So I started to run towards the staircase. I
grouped for the phone and tried to call him. The first time it did not connect.
I rechecked the phone number and connected again and Tamaghna picked the call.
He came running to the project site and demonstrate the project. Apparently ,
according to Dr Deshpande , he did perform well. Most important, he had no more
complaints because the examiners had heard him this time. Depressions settled
for Tamaghna and he started taking care of his friends – Atharva’ s feelings.
In a few minutes they were back to play. The evening was the full of fun at the
Mall and the coffee corner. We slept
well exhausted waiting for the next day to come.
Log
24/09/2013
As I
write this part of the trips notes – everything regarding the exhibitions
results appear to have finished. Tamaghna is out of the race and plotted out in
the smart manner. He was cheated of his chance to go to a higher level when he
deserved to. Anyway I shall leave the part related to complainting to destiny
and see what we could learn. The day started with a feeling of freshness and
enthusiasm. Somewhere I could feel that Tamaghna was uncomfortable – he was not
sure about the selection. We had breakfast and were back to the venue. We setup
the project and it was declared that a revision round for the sake of students
are to be held. The examiners came and saw the projects. Tamaghna’s project was
not seen this time. They said that everything was planned. Well what happened
thereafter is a depressing experience and a shame at the ideas of scientific
spirit. We were not selected and we were
told that all the effort to write a scientific report was a waste and
unimportant. Anything other than sincerity could work. The return journey was
difficult and distressing with all four of us quite and disappointed. We learnt
that many things need to be taken care beyond the normal effort. We have to be
smart if we were to be able to fight these dangers to science. In this whole
event Tamaghna and my self kept up the hope that may be we need to improve our
project better and present it in some better place and better time. We sent a copy
of our work to Dr Abdul Kalam in order to feel heard. Rest we leave to what our
destiny reveals.
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