The source of light

The fading luminescence of the afternoon sky never failed to mesmerize me. And today it was no different as I was gazing at it for long until a loud voice broke my chain of thoughts.

“Look at me!!”, Mr.Sen shouted and I realized that it was not a good idea to look outside the window during his class. He loved Physics more than he loved his students and I was sure that he was going to kick me out of the class. “What is the relation between refractive index of a medium and speed of light in it?”, he asked me. The room was even darker now and I wondered why darkness makes us feel low sometimes. I was completely clueless about the answer and soon he ordered me to leave the classroom and more than a punishment it sounded like the best offer to me. But it felt bad to leave alone as my best friend Rahul was inside and he took the window seat now. I wished he gazed at the window but he was attentive.

***

The school bell rang making me realize that my wait for Rahul was over. It had already started raining and we decided to head to the nearest tea-shop to have a shelter.

“You know, light is not just what he says it is”, he broke the silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Physics explains that light is some wave or particle, or whatever. That may be true but I feel it’s something more”

“I really don’t get you. Can you explain a bit?”

“The way darkness makes us feel low, the way a man looks at bright light after spending years in the prison, the way a man lost in the forest follows the source of light – I feel light is something more than you think it is. Light is hope. Light is…”

I interrupted him, “Hey wait. Now this is too much! I know you wanted to be a writer and you’re really good at literature. You’re good at explaining things in a different way but why don’t you pursue your interest? Do you really love Physics? I mean, the way you were listening to him made me wonder!”

“You know the difference between Science and Arts?”

“Well, Science is about discovering new things, I mean, the things which are already present and Art is all about creation.”

“But we created computers, cell-phones, and many advanced gadgets. Isn’t it creation of Science?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you…”

He interrupted me, “Science is the required technology. People used the technology to build those but actually this is our art. This is art taking help from Science. You still don’t think they are closely related? Okay, now answer this. What is the greatest creation in this world?”

I started thinking but suddenly the cell-phone interrupted me. It was my mother. She sounded worried as I was late. I got up to leave as the rain was over but I didn’t forget Rahul’s question.

***

Roof top was an interesting place to hang out. He often came to my house to study together and when we were done, we spent hours looking at the starry sky. Sometimes we discussed our study, sometimes music or films. It was really a fun. But today, it was different.

“Can you see that bright star over there? Let’s stare at it.”, he told me pointing out a star at the middle of the sky.

“Stare at that?! Why?”

“Just do it!”

We both started gazing at it.

“What do you see now?”, after a few minutes he asked.

“It feels like there is a bright spot at the middle and the whole world is black! I don’t know why but I can’t see anything else.”

“What do you think it signifies? I mean – ‘a bright spot in the middle of nowhere’ Does it mean something?”

“Hey! You know I’m not good at explaining these things, I mean, metaphors and all that. Tell me what you think about it.”

“It feels like – the bright spot is the life on earth in the middle of nowhere. The whole world is so dark that it’s not visible. There is only one source of light. That is life. To me, nothing looks brighter than that.” 

I said, “Do you remember that you asked me about the greatest creation in this world? I think I know it now”.