The Potential Difference

It was raining heavily; Akbar was sitting in his college canteen. He was sipping tea and was deep into his thoughts. People were chatting; students and lecturers were busy discussing various things. Akbar was lost in thoughts about the rain. All of a sudden, he was all alone.

There was a sound of thunder. A girl enters the canteen. She looks unusually apart from the other students. She has driver's gloves on her hands. She looks around, comes to the Akbar’s table and asks if she could sit there as tables are full. She introduces herself as Padhu.

It was raining heavily, with thunder. Akbar is back in the canteen with people around and Padhu is nowhere to be seen. He smiles and takes his book for his lecture.

Akbar is a lecturer of Information technology, and he actively takes part in National Social Service activities. In his free time, he works with the NGO team as a volunteer and motivates other students and teachers as well to contribute the same.

Though he is from an IT background, he doesn’t limit himself and learns other subjects. He interacts with his colleagues and others through social media when it comes to learning and avoids unnecessary gossips for entertainment.

It was the fresh batch of 2010.

Akbar: "Hi guys I am Akbar. I will be handling the C+++ and Unix for your class this year. You can ask your questions in other subjects as well. Don’t limit your questions.

Always be a student, when it comes to learning, that’s how you learn. Apart from teaching, I work for NGOs during the weekend. You guys can join me, or do the same with NSS. Now, I’ll give you 10 minutes to make a friend in the class and introduce them on their behalf." He develops a rapport with the students. As the students are introducing themselves, Akbar is watching the rain through the corridor and goes outside the classroom.

There was a hand on his shoulder, Akbar turned around. It was Padhu. With a gleam of happiness, she was back in her rider attire and jacket.

Padhu, "Again, back into silence?

You, won’t change, whatever you are my adorable friend."

Akbar was raised by a single parent. His mother died when he was 5. While working for a livelihood his father found it difficult to spend quality time with him. Akbar spent his childhood in the library and preferred to make friends with books rather than with people. The kids of his age used to spend their holidays in their relatives' homes and playing cricket. Akbar preferred the library and he raised himself as a child, by being a father and mother by connecting with the characters, in the novel, and by observing others.

Padhu was the only daughter of a politician; she was a papa’s girl. She was raised differently from the norms of society. She was a tomboy with a hobby of collecting racing bikes. Though there was a huge fan following for her, she restricted herself with regard to this modern trend. Padhu and Akbar were poles apart with nothing in common between them. Padhu was more of a mother to Akbar, she was a Roadie, with a pure heart that only Akbar could see.

Swathi, "Sir, we are ready to give the introduction." The class got introduced, the session was over, and one of the students asked a question to Akbar.

Student: "Sir, I have been seeing poverty for a long time, why there hasn’t there been much change in spite of the initiatives taken?"

Akbar: "Nice one, Mam, education with creativity does and can do wonders."

Akbar drew a dot on the blackboard.

Akbar: "What is this"

Class: "It’s a dot."

Akbar: "Now, if you ask the same question to a kid, will they say it is a dot?"

Class: "No"

Akbar: "Why? "because the kid doesn’t know dot, but they see things as dot.

A cloud on the sky is a dot.

The moon in the sky is a dot.

The sun in the sky is a dot.

The light from a distance is a dot."

Kids are boundary-less, but we restrict our knowledge to a boundary and it becomes dot. Learn to change the weakness, to strength.

Our useless phones lie dumped in our cupboards, without being recycled. Each phone comes with a camera, one can donate those phones for education and many kids can learn with it. The camera on the phone can be used to do street photography and can be used to make a revolution to fix the road dents and crime.

Technology is powerful, but we use it as a joke.

Student: "Sir, how can a phone make a change."

Akbar: "A simple initiative as part of NSS is to learn photography and teach these kids photography with smartphones. Let them take the photos of the world they live, people they see, capture the emotions, the seasons. During the cultural meet, you can conduct a photo exhibition and collect the fund to keep them in school, be it for the infrastructure, buying books, pen, etc. You can do it as part of NSS, or as part of other NGOs. Even if one college can adopt a school by volunteering as a teacher along with fundraising, it can make a difference in many kids' lives. Students being committed, people will share. In the process, you are ascertaining and retaining creativity with social concern. Photography need not be restricted to kids, people can capture unattended roads. It can be captured and posted with customized google maps apps for making a safer commutation. It would help people to choose alternate routes, and also raise a voice against the leaders to repair them. If there is a determination, plastic can be used to fill these roads. When tar is part of fractional distillation, even plastic happens to part of the residue.

It’s all about observing and exploring. Carbon or plastic is less notorious in their solid-state, why to invite trouble when they are silent. Try the same in your labs, undertake different projects from the usual, keeping the safety of the loved ones in mind, innovation will appear on its own."

The bell rings, the period gets over. The students disperse from the class. The student who asked the question comes to Akbar.

Student: "Thanks sir for a detailed explanation."

Akbar: "Nice to see such a concerned youngster and your name is?"

Student:"I am Padmini, people call me Padhu."

She leaves the room.

Padhu: "Akbar, I will slap you. Don't even think of some other girl."

Akbar: "No Padhu, I just wanted...."

Padhu: "You belong to me", with tears in her eyes, she leaves the room.

Akbar tries to convince her but she drives her bike and leaves the place.

Akbar kept trying her number, day and night. He followed her on her social media sites, but he couldn’t reach her.

The next day he reached the college but the biker was nowhere.

The day started with the usual prayer, and there was mourning.

"It’s painful to hear of the sudden demise of Miss Padmini the daughter of JK Vasu, Minister of Transportation, in an accident.

She left all of us yesterday at 10 PM.

May God give strength to her family."

Padhu was a good biker. Due to heavy rain, the road got weathered and the deep holes were filled with water. Her bike bumped on one of the holes.

She lost control of the bike and, along with her emotions, her bike skidded, and a truck ran over her.

Padhu was no more for others, but Akbar lives with her.

People may come and go for a reason, Padhu lives within him, by having her qualities.

Many accidents take place in a year. Some can be stopped by owning responsibility, and the rest by making others responsible for their job.

One can say its fate and move on. Others work hard according to their capability to make sure fate doesn’t intervene in the life of another

Padhu and Akbar, and Akbar being one of them.