[Prologue: This post might be disturbing]
I woke up startled! "Physics is freaking awesome!" I said to myself.
Was it a dream?
I had slept on my physics text book. The page 152 of the book was wet from my drool. It was a lazy afternoon and I must have dozed off while studying. My back was sore. I guess I slept in an unnatural position. The human body wasnt made to sleep on a study table with your Physics text book as your pillow.
But IIT entrance exams make you subject your body to a lot of inhumane stuff - like sleeping at 1 in the night and getting up at 6 in the morning, solving whole calculus problems in your sleep, skipping lunch and sometimes dinner to stay awake... Last night I slept for 3 hours instead of the usual 5 hours. My IIT-JEE(mains) exams were round the corner. I had it all planned. Engineering from one of the IITs, then MBA from one of the IIMs, then job at an American investment bank, Mercedes at 28, BMW at 33, a terrace flat downtown at 35. Its funny how well we plan our life. I had everything planned for the next 20 years when I didnt know what was going to happen in the next 20 minutes!
It was mid-May. It was around 7 in the evening. I looked out of the window. It was golden brown outside. It was lovely! There were dark clouds in the sky and the May Sun beat down on them to create nature's own soft light bulb.
I looked at my drool drenched Physics text book. It wasnt fair. I was just 18. These are the greenest years of my life... and I was spending them reading books and learning formulae. This is so damn unfair. I have to get away from all this. I got up, took my bike keys and opened the door and slammed it shut.
I put in the key and started the bike. I realised I had forgotten to take the helmet with me. Damn it, I thought. I was going on a short ride, I dont need a helmet. I raised the accelerator, to kick the bike out of inertia
Page 109:
Inertia: Inertia is the resistance offered by a body when subjected to a change in its state of rest or of uniform motion.
Too much Physics does that to you. You start finding Physics in every damn thing.
It started to rain. Sparse but large golden droplets started to fall from the gold of the sky. It was like gold melting and falling down onto earth in small gold droplets.
I took the highway. I increased my speed. My hair were getting wet. The smell of wet soil was in the air. The water droplets hit my face, hurting it. Suddenly, I felt alive.
I see a truck trying to take a U turn, I apply the brake gently. A film of water formed on the tar road reduces the friction.
Page: 123
Friction: Friction is a force that resists the relative motion between two surfaces in contact.
I press the brake completely, but the bike wont stop. It skids on the wet frictionless road. I lose my balance. I fall on the wet tar road, the bike drags me along with it. It wont stop. It wont stop. Still no panic. The bike pulls me with it along the tar road, bringing me precariously close to the tyre of the truck.
The truck driver must have applied the brakes, but the momentum(mass x velocity) of the 50,000 kilogram truck kept it going.
Page: 146
Momentum: A measure of the motion of a body equal to the product of its mass and velocity.
It went going and going...till it came close to my head, till I could see the threads on the tyre, till I could smell the cow dung on the huge rubber tyre, and then...
Crunchhh...
What the ?? What happened to Newton's Third law of motion?!
Page 152
Newton's Third law of motion: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction!
If the truck exerted 50,000g (where g=9.8m/sec sq.) of force (Action), my head should exert that much force back (Reaction)! But that didnt happen now, did it? Newton was an idiot.. The third law of Newton sucks.. Just then it strikes me! Newtonian laws are applicable to perfectly rigid bodies. My skull isnt perfectly rigid... not even close! My brain lied splattered on the wet tar road. Broken pieces of skull stick to the tyre.
I thought to myself- Physics is freaking awesome!
[Note:It rained in Mumbai today]
Editor in chief Arshat Chaudhary
Current Issues: IIT, mumbai, physics
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Thoorika said...
It is disturbing !! Though it maynot sound so but in one way it is a compliment for your writing !!!
Anonymous said...
I guess a zombie has written the post. But awesome post!!love your writing style.
Meghana Naidu said...
^^^ yes i did. :O
such a sweet charming post.
;)
- a chance visitor
Pratyush said...
"I had everything planned for the next 20 years when I didnt know what was going to happen in the next 20 minutes!"
Loved the post, awesome.
iceprincess said...
god have mercy!!!
i totally loved it....
at d cost of sounding gruesome....but..i loved d way d narrative follows physics arnd....and d wry,morbidity in d way the narrative was built up...
u are freaking awesome....
Nupur said...
Haha!!!! Its freaking awesome , this post!!!
I almost started loving physics until you mentioned that the third law applies to perfectly rigid bodies only.... but aren't there exceptions in this rule or what?? Not done!!
HIREN aka lamda said...
chotta tha par acha tha....
i luv physics...
:p
AnjuGandhi said...
u have a way with your words.
ur expressions just flow . its an amazing quality you have.
Winnie the poohi said...
I kept wondering where you were leading! Amazingly written.. and physics is freaking awesome :D
jas said...
This post is freaking awesome..
Soumya Mandi said...
awesome post.. seems u had a long stint with physics
Anonymous said...
Ouch. Disturbing as hell. But brilliant. :)
Anya said...
haha.. physics is my favorite subject.. now i see physics everywhere too..
the 20 years- 20 minutes thing is so true
chriz
Harish said...
Wow!! Refreshing style of narration and a very valid message...
But seriously did we study till 1am for JEE?? Hmm.. :P
aroop said...
no offense brother, but all these compliments aside.. I see your blogs going downhill.. not in writing style but the blogs as a whole..
DPhatsez said...
Tch! another one bites the dust.
This post is dedicated all those comrades who died studying for entrance exams.
R.I.P
Good luck mate!
Sree said...
Phantastic post...right message, the physics way!! Wear helmet on the head...however short the ride is...unless you wanna shorten your life!
Newton would have loved this too!! :)
Anonymous said...
awesome post! :D
Sam said...
You are 18?? Duhh!!!
Sumit said...
Now i know how your head churns out such nice posts. Head banging helps, does it?
And yes IIT prep does make u think like a scientist..though most of the times only in spirit, with no logic to match. I remember during my days i once saw some guys in a madarsa trying to mug something up, and i actually wondered what device may have been fitted in their necks which performs such accurate S.H.M.
Keep them coming
Shanu said...
Awesome post..disturbing but awesome :)
Aman said...
hehe...loved this post as well dude...lil different from ur usual post but awesome nonetheless..
Sumit said...
btw ,thanx for commenting on my blog. That was the first one i ever got (is there an award for that? ) I was so happy to see that after all, my blog doesn't have only one reader- that is me . I have never felt as happy since.......ok , since yesterday.
Actually got home from hostel yesterday, and u see, nothing beats that.
NG said...
ohhh ...( i sooo want to exclaim with the f word)
i hope this ones not a true story...
Nikita said...
That's a scary post you know... beautifully written.. although I distinctly remember our English teacher telling us at school .. "You never write a story where you died.. how are you narrating it then"... hehe.. but to hell with that rule.. the post is freaking awesome :)
Rony Lee said...
wow,awesome article.