The evening bell rang, signaling the end of the day’s classes in school. He now had to go for his tuition class. His parents had put him into that extra class to make sure he did well in academics. For some reason, it was his last priority; he thought he wasn’t cutout for studies, least of all physics or math, or anything in science. His interest was in things which were supposedly abstract. Though science tried to touch upon them, he was convinced that science, at least as much as he knew of it, was not going to clear things up for him.
He sat on his cycle, and started the ride to his evening class, a muddy road lined with tall palm trees. Yonder lay a burial ground and every day as he crossed that route to his class, he would see at least one funeral procession. He became so used to it, that never did it fail to fascinate him. Some people laughing, others seriously talking something or the other, the priestly person, blowing the conch and clanging the bell, as if informing the world of the person’s departure, or probably informing the folks high up to make sure they were ready to receive this latest consignment, but it all happened so religiously. He would stand with this cycle, watching the procession pass, as the sound of the bell slowly faded………….interestingly he would think of Doppler’s effect as the sound faded away. Such a simple concept that it took somebody to observe it and be more explicit about such a basic concept.
As he reached the class, his physics teacher was waiting for him. There was no other student that day. The topic was about velocity, distance and time.
The three formulae associating, velocity, distance, and time, the physics teacher so lucidly explained and as he was elaborating and insisting that time was of utmost importance to understand these concepts, this boy’s mind began its quest.
“Sir got a doubt”!
“What is it”? Asked the teacher.
“What is time”? He asked after about one hour of the lesson.
The teacher was fuming.
“I have been croaking my throat for one hour and now you ask me what time is”? Yelled the teacher.
“Sir, sorry but please tell me what is time. All that you told me was about time and not time per se, so please explain” the boy quietly said.
Now the teacher held back for a minute, and realized that the kid had a point. Like in every physics class, he had explained that velocity is the distance traveled in a given time, and acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, each term was explained in terms of another term, but never was time which was the fundamental, explained, and now the boy got to it, so steadfast. His face gave the feeling that he didn’t care about anything else unless definition of time was clarified.
“OK, let me try” said the teacher and went on “the interval between two events is time”.
“So sir, does it mean that time itself is dependent on the second event and doesn’t exist by itself?”
The teacher was completely caught off guard. He didn’t know how to handle this, in his heart of heart he was happy that these questions weren’t raised in the class in front of so many others. He thought this boy to be so disinterested but now he realized that the seemingly callous boy was not what he seemed to be.
“Yes, I think so, but then you have the clock time, it is not dependent on any event” replied the teacher, a feeling of happiness that he could outwit the boy.
His head still looking at the cracked cemented floor, the boy smiled and said
“Is it so? But the clock has its two arms, and unless the arm moves from one point to another, you still cannot measure time, so don’t you feel there is a dependence on something else to measure time, even within the clock”?
“Sir, all along I heard you in the class, stressing the importance of the concept of time to define all the other concepts. Tell me something, what if there is no second event for a given first event. Does it mean that time ceases? Going back to what you said about the definition of time…….as the interval between two events……….. even mentally when I have a thought, and then another thought, between the two thoughts you say is the interval called time, am I right?” asked the boy.
“Yes….” He replied but he wasn’t sure any more regarding the direction of the conversation or the next question.
“So it implies that at some point of time, if there is no thought in a person, time ceases to exist for him isn’t it? If so is it OK to state that with no time existing, space also ceases to exist for him?
“Now why would you say space ceases to exist” asked the teacher, the roles were slightly getting reversed apparently.
“I think so because, if there is no time, then there is no movement, which means the second doesn’t exist, and space comes into existence only when the here and there exist, and with time gone, there is no here and consequently no there, so what is left?” asked the boy
“So what is left………..” asked the teacher his voice becoming a hoarse whisper.
The evening twilight slowly giving way to darkness and they could see the ghostly form of the tall trees dancing in the distance.
“Sorry sir; am not sure, that’s why am asking you, since you could explain time, I wanted to know from you about the concept of no-time” the boy said.
It was a very embarrassing position for the teacher, but at the same time, the boy’s question seemed to be valid, and he was a good teacher, and he respected the boy.
“Son, I don’t think I can answer the question of yours. Its not physics anymore we are talking about I think” he said.
The boy so young, innocent looking but the eyes could look through you, so penetrating yet soft, yearning to learn and touch the depths of void which very few minds dare to explore.
“Sir, shall I take leave?” he asked.
“OK boy, see you in school tomorrow” said the teacher.
He packed his bag and started pedaling, along the same route he had passed sometime ago, by now the funeral procession had reached the destination and he could see the pyre burning in glory, consuming every bit of the body fed into it. He stopped the cycle, resting one leg on the ground; while he relaxed in the cross bar of his cycle, observing the birds, flying back, the flames leaping into the sky, as if making a last ditch effort to deliver the body to the heavens up there. In his mind it ranted on,
“If there is no second, then is there no time and hence no space? If so then time and space are not real, as they don’t have an independent existence, so if that is the case what is left, there is no here and no there, and hence no distance or time, either mental or physical, what is that state, what is it that gives validity to these………..can I ever experience it, or to experience it, should I cease, if so can I articulate the experience after it…………” questions which never had an answer yet………
He sat on his cycle, and started the ride to his evening class, a muddy road lined with tall palm trees. Yonder lay a burial ground and every day as he crossed that route to his class, he would see at least one funeral procession. He became so used to it, that never did it fail to fascinate him. Some people laughing, others seriously talking something or the other, the priestly person, blowing the conch and clanging the bell, as if informing the world of the person’s departure, or probably informing the folks high up to make sure they were ready to receive this latest consignment, but it all happened so religiously. He would stand with this cycle, watching the procession pass, as the sound of the bell slowly faded………….interestingly he would think of Doppler’s effect as the sound faded away. Such a simple concept that it took somebody to observe it and be more explicit about such a basic concept.
As he reached the class, his physics teacher was waiting for him. There was no other student that day. The topic was about velocity, distance and time.
The three formulae associating, velocity, distance, and time, the physics teacher so lucidly explained and as he was elaborating and insisting that time was of utmost importance to understand these concepts, this boy’s mind began its quest.
“Sir got a doubt”!
“What is it”? Asked the teacher.
“What is time”? He asked after about one hour of the lesson.
The teacher was fuming.
“I have been croaking my throat for one hour and now you ask me what time is”? Yelled the teacher.
“Sir, sorry but please tell me what is time. All that you told me was about time and not time per se, so please explain” the boy quietly said.
Now the teacher held back for a minute, and realized that the kid had a point. Like in every physics class, he had explained that velocity is the distance traveled in a given time, and acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, each term was explained in terms of another term, but never was time which was the fundamental, explained, and now the boy got to it, so steadfast. His face gave the feeling that he didn’t care about anything else unless definition of time was clarified.
“OK, let me try” said the teacher and went on “the interval between two events is time”.
“So sir, does it mean that time itself is dependent on the second event and doesn’t exist by itself?”
The teacher was completely caught off guard. He didn’t know how to handle this, in his heart of heart he was happy that these questions weren’t raised in the class in front of so many others. He thought this boy to be so disinterested but now he realized that the seemingly callous boy was not what he seemed to be.
“Yes, I think so, but then you have the clock time, it is not dependent on any event” replied the teacher, a feeling of happiness that he could outwit the boy.
His head still looking at the cracked cemented floor, the boy smiled and said
“Is it so? But the clock has its two arms, and unless the arm moves from one point to another, you still cannot measure time, so don’t you feel there is a dependence on something else to measure time, even within the clock”?
“Sir, all along I heard you in the class, stressing the importance of the concept of time to define all the other concepts. Tell me something, what if there is no second event for a given first event. Does it mean that time ceases? Going back to what you said about the definition of time…….as the interval between two events……….. even mentally when I have a thought, and then another thought, between the two thoughts you say is the interval called time, am I right?” asked the boy.
“Yes….” He replied but he wasn’t sure any more regarding the direction of the conversation or the next question.
“So it implies that at some point of time, if there is no thought in a person, time ceases to exist for him isn’t it? If so is it OK to state that with no time existing, space also ceases to exist for him?
“Now why would you say space ceases to exist” asked the teacher, the roles were slightly getting reversed apparently.
“I think so because, if there is no time, then there is no movement, which means the second doesn’t exist, and space comes into existence only when the here and there exist, and with time gone, there is no here and consequently no there, so what is left?” asked the boy
“So what is left………..” asked the teacher his voice becoming a hoarse whisper.
The evening twilight slowly giving way to darkness and they could see the ghostly form of the tall trees dancing in the distance.
“Sorry sir; am not sure, that’s why am asking you, since you could explain time, I wanted to know from you about the concept of no-time” the boy said.
It was a very embarrassing position for the teacher, but at the same time, the boy’s question seemed to be valid, and he was a good teacher, and he respected the boy.
“Son, I don’t think I can answer the question of yours. Its not physics anymore we are talking about I think” he said.
The boy so young, innocent looking but the eyes could look through you, so penetrating yet soft, yearning to learn and touch the depths of void which very few minds dare to explore.
“Sir, shall I take leave?” he asked.
“OK boy, see you in school tomorrow” said the teacher.
He packed his bag and started pedaling, along the same route he had passed sometime ago, by now the funeral procession had reached the destination and he could see the pyre burning in glory, consuming every bit of the body fed into it. He stopped the cycle, resting one leg on the ground; while he relaxed in the cross bar of his cycle, observing the birds, flying back, the flames leaping into the sky, as if making a last ditch effort to deliver the body to the heavens up there. In his mind it ranted on,
“If there is no second, then is there no time and hence no space? If so then time and space are not real, as they don’t have an independent existence, so if that is the case what is left, there is no here and no there, and hence no distance or time, either mental or physical, what is that state, what is it that gives validity to these………..can I ever experience it, or to experience it, should I cease, if so can I articulate the experience after it…………” questions which never had an answer yet………
2 comments:
hey iam nila
i am remeinded of a baby who always searchs for its mother. all the best search till 'you' get lost in that.
hi nila,
didnt get exactly what you meant
void
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