Thank you for being our Guru

[Somashekara Bhat [MAHE-MIT]]

In life we all learn from each other.  

 

With the interaction with you, we had the opportunity to learn from you. With this you are entitled to be called our ‘Guru’. 

 

On this day of ‘Guru Purnima’, we take this opportunity to say  

 

“Thank you for being our Guru” – SV3 

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For the last two years I teach a subject – History of Sciences for students of MA in Ecosophical Aesthetics offered by our sister institute – Gandhian Centre for Philosophical Arts and Sciences. Students need to submit weekly assignment, which can be in the form of a regular write up, or poem, or story or cartoon or short movie or in any other form.  

 

Here is an assignment submitted by one of my student – Judy, for her weekly assignment in physics. This was my learning from my first interaction with her. I am sure you will enjoy this. If so, please share your joy by sending an email to judysher...@gmail.com   

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 ‘A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A YOUNG LASER BEAM’ 

 

People often ask me, “why are you so concerned about abiding by the rules?” 

 

They say, “try to enjoy life”, “break rules and have some fun.” If only they knew how this was 

easier said than done. 

 

“Monochromatic. Directional. Coherent.” 

 

Ever since my birth, my life has been dictated by these three words. Three words that can sum 

up my entire existence. My life was planned out for me and decisions were made on my behalf 

even before I could comprehend the meaning of most of these things. Not that I am complaining. It is not that I despise the fact that I get very little say in matters that concern my life but rather that sometimes I wish I was normal like the others around me. 

 

When you are born with special abilities like me, it is inevitable that people will have great expectations from you. You are expected to behave in a certain manner, work in a predetermined fashion and use your abilities to the best of everyone’s satisfaction. 

 

My job is what the world of science calls ‘one among the greatest inventions’ of the past century and an essential one at that. Apparently, I have made the lives of humans a lot easier due to my sheer strength and disciplined manner of working. 

 

Oh! How rude of me! 

 

I got so engrossed in telling you my story that I completely forgot to introduce myself properly.  

 

Hello! My name is Lasie Jr. I belong to the family of one of the technological inventions that you must be quite familiar in this day and age, which is widely known as “LASER”. For those of you who do not know, “LASER” is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”. I can imagine why our creators would have preferred to give us a shortened version of our actual name. Otherwise it would have been immensely difficult for others to address us. 

 

I apologise if my sob story in the beginning would have given a depressing impression about 

my family. It was not my intention to do so.  

 

I was feeling a bit down since morning and I just wanted to vent. I feel a lot better now. 

 

So, let me explain to you all about my family and my work. I hope that I will do justice in explaining the history of my family. And, I promise I will keep it as simple as possible for you to understand. I know that it can get a bit overwhelming for others if I use too many scientific and technical terms. I hope I will be able to pique your interest about the world of science.  

 

Oh! I guess, I went a bit too formal with my introduction there. 

 

I strongly believe that a story should not sound dull and monotonous. So, let’s take a little ride down the lanes of history, shall we? 

 

I am sure everyone has that one faint memory of an event from their childhood, right? For some this memory can be joyful, for many it’s ordinary and for some others, traumatising and depressing. 

 

Well, I’d say mine was not all sparkles and sunshine either. And I have a pretty justifiable reason for saying this. 

 

Imagine opening your eyes and the first thing you see is that you are trapped within some container of sorts. Wouldn’t you be terrified beyond your senses? 

 

Now, add to this horror, a rod, a coiled tube of some kind and two mirrors within the container. For a newbie such as me, of course, the visuals were frightening. 

 

If this series of unfortunate events were not enough, turns out I am claustrophobic as well. That 

is why, I have come to believe that I hit the jackpot in the ‘misfortunes’ department.  

 

But, hey! All’s well that ends well, isn’t it?  

 

Sure, I had a tumultuous start to my life but my experiences have allowed me to better appreciate the fruitful days of my life. That’s something wonderful. Wouldn’t you agree? 

 

That being said, let us come back to my first memory. 

 

It turned out that the rod was a “medium” and the coiled flash tube was a “stimulant”. These combined with the two reflective mirrors helped me to reach my potential of being a powerful 

beam of light, as you can see… 

 

Hmm… Your expression tells me that I lost you at those technical terms. But you need not to fret because I, Lasie Jr., am here to make your life simple and I shall explain this with an example which will allow you to picture my situation better. 

 

Now, picture yourself as a person who has claustrophobia and you are forced to ride on an elevator because your office is at one of the top floors of a high rise. As much as you hate the 

idea of being in a closed space, you have no choice but to do it. 

 

On one of those days, as fate would have it, you are the unfortunate victim of having to travel 

in a jam-packed elevator. As if the thought of an elevator was not enough to choke you, now 

you have 20 other people riding along with you in close proximity. 

 

Just as you are regretting your decision of being there, life throws a curve ball in the form of some technical difficulties in the elevator, which leads it to shake violently, rapidly descend a 

few floors at a great speed, halt and shake again, before it safely comes to a stop at one of the floors. 

 

During this time, you along with the other passengers are panicking and terrified beyond compare, screaming on the top of your lungs, falling and bumping into each other and trying to hold onto your dear lives. It’s a chaotic experience and for your claustrophobic self, it’s more like experiencing death. When the elevator comes to a halt and the doors open, everyone runs out of it screaming and at the speed of light. And you swear to never take an elevator again. 

 

I apologise if it was a gruesome example but you can relate, right? 

 

What I wanted to tell you is that, the elevator (medium) holds the people (atoms). The violent force causing the shake (stimulant) results in panic (electrons getting excited) causing a sudden 

outburst of frantic emotions (release of energy as photons). At its heightened state, there is a chain reaction of similar emotions being exhibited (photons being released at the same wavelength) and people bump into each other (bouncing against the reflective mirrors). Finally, 

when they see the door opening, they run out as fast they can (the powerful beam flowing out through a hole in the mirror). 

 

In a nutshell, that’s how my first memory is etched into my being. This is how we, laser beams, are born and this is how our everyday lives look like. 

 

But hold on, it’s not as terrifying anymore. I have gotten used to it and I absolutely love the work that I do! 

 

Remember the three words that I mentioned to you in the beginning? “Monochromatic, directional, coherent”? 

 

Those are the driving force of my life. My life’s motto. 

 

That is the trait for which my family is famously known around the world. Unlike, our ancestors like Mr. Flashlight, who has trouble moving in a single direction and tends to be spread all over 

the place, we are considered to be elites because of our special abilities. 

 

I’d say our ideals make us look a bit uptight and something similar to being military personnel, but I feel, a bit of discipline never hurt anybody. 

 

We are made up of electrons that release the light at a certain amount of energy with a similar 

wavelength which results in us having a single colour (monochromatic). 

 

My family is also very strict when it comes to being focused on our goals while working (directional). 

 

Also, our similar wavelength and focused approach allows us to be extremely organised and 

keep ourselves in line (coherent). 

 

I would be lying if I say I enjoy following this kind of a meticulous and well-planned life every single day. Even I have my moments where I wish I wasn’t the way I was. 

 

Well, today, what you saw earlier was an example of that type of a day. 

 

Regardless of that, I am proud of my heritage as a “LASER” and I see myself fortunate to have 

been able to be of immense help to millions of people. 

 

Whether it is in the form of reducing the time taken to cut through multiple pieces of metal or fabric, destroying cancer tumours, restoring eyesight by repairing the detached retina or easing communication by transmitting data through fibre-optic cables in a fraction of a second, it is all thanks to my birth into this family. 

 

My creators had a great vision in their mind when they conceived the idea of bringing me into existence one day. I was told since a young age that if I exist today, it is all because of the years of toiling that the greatest minds in the world of science diligently worked towards to make it a reality. 

 

I guess, I can say that I am a brainchild of a group of curious, scientific minds over several decades. 

 

My closest relative, MASER (Microwave Amplification of Stimulated Emission of Radiation) made it possible for my creators to believe that my family and I can exist in the near future. 

 

And look, here I am after all these years, right before your eyes! This Universe and the intelligence of mankind truly works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it? 

 

Oh! Did I go a bit philosophical towards the end? 

 

Sorry, I tend to become a bit sentimental every time I think of the history of my family. It’s so marvellous and overwhelming at the same time, that I am unable to hold back my emotions. 

 

You see, just like the powerful beam I emit, everything about myself is equally strong. 

 

And, now I’d like to let you know that this humble being has successfully managed to complete his attempt at being an eloquent storyteller. I’d like to believe that you were able to keep up with my examples of how we function, our ideals and our family’s multiple technological ventures. I was extremely excited to do this! 

 

I had a tiring day at work yesterday and talking to you has brought back all the energy that I 

had lost. 

 

Tomorrow, I am going back to work with a greater sense of satisfaction and I will live to see another day where my existence is a boon to mankind. 

 

I’ll take your leave now. I have to run a few errands. 

 

But before I leave, I’d like to thank you for patiently listening to my story and I hope you will 

make more young scientific minds curious about technological inventions like us. 

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