Chemistry and Music
Chemistry has always been a mystery…..that’s what I had heard from almost everyone I asked about the subject throughout my childhood. But I never believed it. For me, chemistry till the 10th standard was pretty easy and fun and I genuinely liked it. It was only when I reached in 11th standard that I realized how wrong I was and how right all those people were (no offense, I still think chemistry is a great subject). The subject was so difficult to cope up with and always seemed like a never-ending maze full of confusion and queries. One of my classmates got so scared of the subject despite being a brilliant student that she changed her stream in 11th standard so that she will never have to deal with chemistry or any related topics. I found the move a smart one.
It was a rainy day in early October, we were in school. And we had a chemistry lab of two hours that day. At much as I feared chemistry, just five months into 11th standard, I loved the labs, they were fun and rewarding. But unfortunately, that very day as the bell rang and we all started taking out our practical files and lab coats to the lab, our teacher came in class and announced that we won’t be having lab due to some issue in the lab because of heavy rains. She also told that since only half of the class was present that day, it was a practical decision to not have lab class. I was sad, no, I was devastated….and I was angry, at the heavy rain and the rain gods, at my school building and definitely at my chemistry teacher, who looked too young to teach us chemistry but here she was in all her blazing glory. It was turning into a bad day but what came out of my teacher’s mouth next definitely took the cake…” we will study theory for next two hours”…and my brain was like whatttttt? Noooooo!
I was trying to comprehend what I heard….two hours of non-stop chemistry on an unpleasant rainy day, well the higher powers must definitely hate me. But as I was contemplating my dreadful luck, one fine gentleman from my class, who was indeed good in chemistry and our teacher definitely adored as a student said something to the teacher which I thought at the time were the most beautiful words to come out of any person’s mouth.”; Ma’am, half of the class is absent today and we are already ahead in our syllabus so can we skip chemistry today and sing songs or something for one hour after that you can solve our doubts…eh” the boy said in a very careful and hopeful tone, knowing very well that our chemistry teacher loved to sing. The students of my class pleaded along in unison while I held my breath for her response (hopefully ‘yes’).
We all happily cheered as she said “okay” after a couple of seconds, which for us seemed like a lifetime. It was only then I realized that I wasn’t alone finding the subject difficult to understand, other students too were relieved after our teacher announced her agreement to the class.
We ended up taking turns in singing songs for about the next 45 minutes (not me, of course, I am terrible) and then we got our doubts cleared followed by learning a bit of chemistry. And surprisingly for the first time, I liked this advanced chemistry and I liked the feeling of not dreading it. Who knew the only push I needed to not dread chemistry were a few songs, making the subject easier and giving me a little push of motivation. I found myself listening to Katy Perry’s “Firework” on loop as I flipped through the pages of thermodynamics and Hydrocarbons.
Well, who knew chemistry had such a great relationship with music, for me at least xD!
The Mermaid Experience
In the last 10-12 years Facebook and its subsidiaries have become such an integrated part of our lives. From boomers to Millenials, Gen Z to Gen Alpha, there’s hardly anyone left unscathed from its charm. It’s addictive, easy to use, and literally a source of income for so many. Of course, Facebook has its own drawbacks, but still, we prefer it, use it and enjoy it as well. As weird or embarrassing it can be for a Gen Z, I don’t like its appeal, never did and I don’t think I ever will.
And trust me it’s really weird for a person like me to not like it, a person who has given in so many times into peer pressure than would actually like to admit. But my reason is pretty much simple and straightforward and if I had to explain it in one sentence I would say ;First impression is the last impression.
It all started on a warm day in middle school. The year was 2010. Facebook was fairly new and very simple with simple features and UI, devoid of all the fancy things it has now. We had a computer class and the most we were allowed to do was to make a PowerPoint presentation. Internet and especially chatrooms were specifically off- limits. I still don’t know the reason behind.
During the two-hour computer class my teacher snuck out of the classroom for some time and that very moment my friend went to check the teacher’s computer system dragging me along with her. I had no idea what she was going to do but went with her just for some adventure on an otherwise boring day. She logged into her Facebook account and that was the very first time I was introduced to the wonders of social media. I was looking curiously with a glint in my eyes as she explained to me the features of Facebook and I kept staring at the computer screen like a curious puppy. While explaining she got a notification on her account which she explained was a message from her Facebook friend. Being the curious person, I am I asked who this friend was. She said that her friend is a mermaid who lives underwater and has a special internet connection just to run the Facebook account. I snorted and didn’t believe any she said. She looked visibly offended and went on to show her chats with that very online friend quickly. I actually looked at them and was stunned for some time. The chats were all about how amazing it is to be a mermaid. And it actually felt like the person operating was a real mermaid living under the ocean. And before I could say anything my friend saw the teacher coming from the window and quickly logged out from the system and we raced to our seats as fast as we could.
I asked my friend that whether she thinks the mermaid person is real or not and she just laughed. And then we never brought this topic again.
I still kept thinking about how there’s an online world where all people do is fabricate lies to make themselves feel better. I did make my own account some 4 years after that but never for once let it all go to my head. And I am still not comfortable with the whole idea of mermaids, doesn’t matter they are real or not.
Perfect biscuit exploration
We all have one thing that we don’t like to eat as a kid. No matter how good it tastes or how nutritious it is or even how many people love to eat it. Even we don’t like to eat it then we won’t, at any cost, despite the million times our parents beg us to or blackmail us to cancel all the holiday plans. We still won’t eat it.
I also had one thing, a particular kind of biscuit when I was around 8 or 9 years old. It was the single most popular biscuit at that time. Everyone adored it, they would eat it with milk, with water, or even without anything at any time of day or night. But I didn’t and I couldn’t. I had tried it once but just hated it. My parents tried to convince me hundreds of times to try and eat again but I just didn’t and after a few months even they stopped.
It was during the month of October when our class teacher announced that we would go to a factory on an excursion trip from school. It would be to some factory. I was very excited, a day away from school at a new place with all my classmates would be just perfect! Finally, the day of the excursion came and we went to some factory just outside the city on a bus. No one had any idea what kind of factory it was. We reached there and were taken to a big hall with a projector at the front. We all admired the room and talked and laughed among ourselves for at least 15 minutes. It was only then a representative from the factory came and started talking about the company to which the factory belonged. After that, we were shown an animated documentary about the company on the screen which was very interesting to watch. It was during the middle of the documentary when I realized that it was very some company which produced my very dreaded biscuits among other things like candies and chocolates with the biscuits being their most famous product. I was intrigued and a bit scared among other things as the realization hit me. I didn’t have any idea what to expect. After the documentary was over few people brought the same biscuits to the room for everyone, the biscuits were warm as they were freshly baked in the factory. We all were given two biscuits each. Most of the people just ate them in one go. I was apprehensive but as soon as I felt the warmth of the biscuit, I finally decided to eat them for the first time in forever. And to my great surprise, it was a delicious experience. I just loved them and wanted more and more.
We were shown the whole factory. We even saw how the biscuits and candies were made. It was really a great experience overall. On the surface, nothing had changed after the excursion but deep down something fundamentally changed within me and I was not apprehensive of things anymore especially that particular biscuit. It was indeed the perfect biscuit for me at that time and I had the best time during my trip. Even my parents were surprised and happy and proud of me after that day.
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Hi, I’m Harshita Tiwari …
