GATE TO GLORY
I had to write a story as an assignment for the course “Language Programming in Literature”, and I did write one. So, here is the story and I hope you enjoy reading it .
GATE TO GLORY
A bell ringing somewhere in a distant universe seemed approaching, getting louder and louder. The alarm has just started beeping and Mr. Williams was already up. His servant had prepared coffee and placed it on the bedside table. He had been serving his master for last fifteen years and he knew exactly what to do and when to do. In this house nothing has changed much since his master and he were living in it. So he just placed the plate at its usual place and went away to do what he has been doing till now since all these years. But suddenly he thought what was to be done now. He was surprised because he never thought, everything was etched into his mind. He knew his master’s daily routine and that pretty much decided his routine as well. He knew his master would get up early in the morning at 6 in summers and at 6:30 in winters. He would have bed tea and give 30 minutes to his daily routine. Then he would have his breakfast while reading the newspaper, which took 30 minutes. Then he was off to his library which was basically a small rack of neatly piled books which together formed the most exhaustive encyclopedia of Quantum Physics that one can find. Near the library, there were three table on which plethora of things lay in random order. This was his masters laboratory and his master has spent his whole life at this table. He was instructed not to go near it. But when looked at from a distance one could very easily say that they mostly consisted of wires and wires and some more of it. If someone were to take a closer look he might find a range of magnets of different shapes and sizes hidden beneath the network of wires. He never understood what one could do with them and was always amazed to know that his master has spent his golden years working on this table. He never could understand the importance of this table till a few days back.
After taking his shower when Mr. Williams entered his room he saw his servant has washed and ironed his best pair of shirt and pant and placed it neatly on the bed. A light blue tie which matched perfectly with the clothing was placed beside it. He took his time and dressed up sprucely. He knew he didn’t have too many things to do today. It was a different day today, it was the special day today. He was delighted and felt relaxed, which was very unlike him. Suddenly everything was new to him. Every feeling was new to him. He was noticing things around him, which he had never noticed. He lived in the same room year after year but never noticed what it contained. He came to sleep here at nights but that too rarely. His chair was his bed and he hardly used pillows. But the same room now seemed to contain so many things that he had never noticed. He was wondering what this new feeling was. He was immersed so deeply in his subject that he never noticed anything else around him.
He dressed up and came to the breakfast table where plates were already in place, waiting for him. When he had almost finished his breakfast he sent his servant for a cab. He was finally going there, the place he always dreamt of. He was excited and ecstatic.
As he sat in the cab a sudden gush of very strong memories took over him. Memories that lurked at the back of his mind motivating him through all his endeavors. He has first arrived in this city 35 years ago, as sprucely dressed as he was today. Going to the same place as he was going today, same excitement and a sense of fulfillment and confidence. The only difference was that he felt more confident today and the city had taught him to live the hard times. He remember very vividly the first day he arrived in this city. He was hopeful and nervous. He had to face an interview for admission to the college of his dreams. He had heard of only one college, even if others existed they never mattered to him because his college was the best in the world. He had only one dream, to get admission into this college. He has already conquered the first step to his destiny but he didn’t knew his destiny had different plans for him. After the interview, he was very eagerly waiting for the results, he knew he had given his best and was sure that he would be selected. But he was nervous, he was possessive. Finally the result came, he went through the names once and again and then again, but to his utter surprise his name wasn’t there. He was suddenly thrown back to the real world which was tough, unlike his world of dreams where he was allowed to play as he wished. He hurried to the office to check with the administration if there was some mistake. In his rush he brushed past a man who looked slightly familiar. He turned back to look at him, he knew this man, he was his interviewer. At the very moment he knew what was to be done. He summed up his courage and prepared himself for any surprises and slowly approached the interviewer.
He was a short man, carrying a book titled “Introduction to Quantum Physics”, who seemed unaware of his surrounding, lost in his own thoughts. He jerked back at the sudden query of this young man, who seemed a little anxious and said something so quickly he couldn’t understand. “Pardon, young man”, he said. “Sir, if you remember I was the last person to be interviewed this afternoon” ,young man said. “Oh yes, oh yes, I remember you. You are probably wondering why you haven’t been selected”, interrupted the professor. “Tell me my boy, if I were to ask you to pick a ball from a lot of gold and silver balls, which one would you choose? ”,he continued. “Sir, I would pick the gold ball”, young man replied hesitatingly. But he knew his query has been answered which was very obvious from the expression on his face. He only got more depressed. His mind was trying to find out what makes him one of those inferior lot. Probably because he wasn’t educated in one of those school which had a brand name but in one of those which exist only to satisfy the needs of poorer lot. He knew what professor was trying to point out. He probably was very good, but there were better ones than him. “Don’t be disheartened my boy, you are a young man with bright future and I can see that. Here, I have a small proposition for you, if you are interested you can think about it and tell me later”, his train of thoughts was interrupted by the professor. Professor started strolling and the young man followed him by his side. He didn’t knew what was about to come but whatever it was he was ready for it. “First let me formally introduce myself to you. My name is Charles Brave and I have been teaching here for last twenty years. My area of research is Quantum Physics and I have been working to solve the problem of unifying all the major laws of physics into one. This is a very interesting field of research and I presume you hardly know anything about it”. He was true, the boy thought. He continued to speak while they both were walking, “Now as you can see I am getting very old and I think I need someone to assist me in my work, someone who is young, enthusiastic and most of all one who dares to do something different. So here is my proposition I will give you a months time and a free pass to a local library which has a whole section dedicated to different sections of Quantum theories. You have to get yourself acquainted with the basic concept of the subject. I will be interacting with you every weekend to judge your progress and to see if you are really suitable for this job”. The boy stopped and thought for a moment. He knew this was his only chance to be associated with this college and that too a golden one. He was excited at this new development and at the same time a bit skeptical about the proposition made to him. He wasn’t very sure what his work would be like, he had no idea what one does in research works. He kept his doubts aside for now and thought that he has a months time to ponder over them but right now if he missed this opportunity he would miss a lot. On the other hand if he agreed over it he has nothing to loose but only to gain a new experience. There was only one problem though, where would he live. He was new to this city and has arrived in the city only this morning. He told the professor about it. The professor lived in a small house with his servant, he had no family as he didn’t marry. After giving it a thought professor agreed to let him live with him for a month and then they would decide what was to be done.
He started going to the library next day onwards. He started with the material suggested by professor to build his basics of the subject. He found that Quantum Physics was relatively new branch of science and not much of work has been done in this field. The feeling that he might discover something someday or he might postulate a theory in this field excited him and gave him motivation to continue. As he had nothing else to do than occasionally helping the servant at the professors house he devoted most of his time reading in the library. As days passed he developed a greater interest in quantum physics. Now he left library only for lunch, dinner and to sleep at nights. He would get up early in the morning and go to library and come home only after library was closed. The professor was greatly impressed by his dedication towards the subject and had a feeling that he hasn’t made a mistake. The final test was yet to be taken but somewhere down in his mind he had already taken a decision.
The end of the month was arriving and the enthusiasm in the young boy had touched new heights. He was fervently reading all the material suggested by the professor not because he had to pass this final test but because of the interest that he had developed over these days for the subject. Meetings and discussions that took place at the weekend with the professor ignited every hidden passion in the boy. Professor was delighted to see that the boy had a different angle of looking at the complex theories of Quantum Physics. He would go into depth of every theory until he was satisfied. In order to understand them in a better way he would sometimes associate them to day to day activities, which was only remarkable because quantum physics was all about random behavior of particles and associating them to such simple things was a great sign that boy was into the subject with all his heart. The professor didn’t conduct the test at the end of the month but presented him a book titled “Research: A way of life” by Ronald Knuth.
As time passed, he became more and more engrossed in his research work with the professor. He was now physics lab sampler at a local high school. He started learning the nuances of the subject from professor and professor too found him very helpful in his research work. Professor was getting very old now. He had already left the college and his health was on a decline. His only wish was that one day he could give a breakthrough theory which will help unifying the laws that governed gravity, magnetism, electricity and electromagnetism. He dreamt of giving the world a single equation which relates all these fields. He worked constantly to propose the postulates of the String Theory.
After eight long and fulfilling years, Williams had learnt a lot from his professor. But there is an end to every journey. Professor was no more in this world. He only wished he could change the destiny. He had just started getting hold of things and it was a long way to go. He had to make his professor’s dream come true.
After two years he was promoted from lab sampler to Deputy Lab Assistant. He was still a bachelor and had dedicated his whole life to research. He was still working on the dream project but without any support it was an uphill task. He carried out enumerable experiments in his small lab with limited number of resources that he could manage. Some of them did go according to his theories but most of his experiments produced nothing but frustration and distress. He tried to postulate theories based on his experiments but they too were rejected after a careful study by him or by other scientists. He had come in contact with many scholars and was famous among them for his unprecedented effort and dedication towards his work. In these tough times there were only two things that guided him, his teacher and his teacher’s dream which was now his dream as well.
But as it is said that there is no substitute to hard work, and Williams was a marvelous example in this regard. He had worked for almost 25 years on the same theory and here he was going to be awarded for his work that he has carried out in all these years. His happiness knew no boundary today. He felt as if he had conquered the whole world.
He got off the cab, it was only nine. It took him sometime to absorb this feeling. He looked on at the college gates, the gates to his glory. The morning sun shining bright on his face. He was amazed to realize that he has taken thirty five long years to come to this place, but it was all worth it. It was worth all those sleepless nights on which he used to debate with himself over one argument and then another. Those rejections from different corners of the world were not in vain. He only wished his teacher was there with him to share this feeling, he looked up in the sky and thanked his teacher and the God. He was appointed here as a faculty for Advanced Studies in Quantum Physics . What else would he want. He was a happy man now, a complete man.
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