365 DAYS 365 TALES

A Paper Rocket to fly in Space

Sreya looked at the faces as she entered the room. The general hub of conversation died away for a second and Sreya took a deep breath as she entered the class. She looked around and to her dismay, she saw that the class was almost full and that only the first few seats in the front of the class were empty. Sreya always had lot of problems with sitting in the front. Well her height was an obvious issue. Added on top of it, Sreya believed that it was best never to be in the immediate direct line of vision of any teacher. She had never found it useful so far.

Taking another deep breath, Sreya sat in the third bench. She tried to relax as she looked around. A few people were talking in some subdued words about something and a few others around them were nodding sagely.

That was when Sreya spied a lanky fellow right in the back. The fact that he was alone and was talking to no one was one thing which separated him. What really caught Sreya's attention were his eyes.....Sreya could not quiet explain it, but his eyes were fascinating. A mixture of fear, excitement and passion all combined reflected in those eyes....His hands were fiddling with something. Sreya peered further and realized that the boy was working on a piece of paper on the desk. The boy following the proper conduct of every student was making a paper rocket. That was nothing special, Sreya had herself made plenty of paper rockets and let them fly right through school.

But then this boy, Sreya was sure, was not making the rocket to let it fly. He was genuinely interested in making the rocket. Sreya smiled as she picked up her books and slowly slipped out and went to the last bench with the boy.

The others in the class were too worried about their first day, to notice what Sreya had done. But the boy was another matter. He looked surprised at the sudden intrusion. He glared first at having his bench taken. He opened his mouth and then abruptly closed it. Frowning, he turned his attention to the paper rocket.

'That is not a very good rocket!' Sreya said making a brave attempt at conversation. Later that night at home, Sreya wondered whether it was really a smart thing to talk about, the first time you meet a person.

The boy looked surprised. First, he had definitely not expected any conversation and secondly, he had definitely not expected any talk about the rocket.

He frowned. 'What would you know?' he demanded belligerently.

'The rocket's nose is not very sharp!' Sreya said pulling the almost ready rocket near her. 'Not good while flying!'

Sreya refolded the rocket and in a matter of minutes had a beautiful and sleek rocket ready.

'That is a good one!' Karan remarked his eyes shining, as he pulled the rocket towards him and unfortunately his impulses overtook him and he let the rocket fly.....

It would definitely have been nothing special, except for the fact that the new professor chose the exact same time to walk inside the class.

Sreya watched in utter horror, as the rocket landed right on the teacher's table smoothly. Sreya looked at Karan not able to believe that he had been so stupid as to get her in trouble on the first day.

She swallowed wondering what was going to happen, when Professor Nataraj picked up the rocket and turned it over and said the most beautiful words which Sreya had heard. 'This is a very well made rocket!' He turned to the class. 'Who made this?'

Many years later, Sreya an engineer working for ISRO grinned as she thought of that day and she knew that the one person who was really responsible for what she was today was the passion and interest which Professor Nataraj had been able to generate in her.

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Author - SAKrishnan

(27/03)