The Beginning of the Periodic Table Revolution
Imagine that you are a ray of light going uninterrupted along a straight path and then after a long while, by which time you think that this is going to be my life forever……you hit upon a wall of glass. Voila! You are in a new world. You find yourself in a new hitherto unknown alley. Your path changes. A new direction in your otherwise stale life…The path less taken perhaps…
I guess most of us go through life on a straight path and sometimes if you are lucky some thing happens that sets us off the straight boring path. And you might not even realize that the supposed stray event completely altered the course of your life.
Let me tell you about an event (one among many) that changed my world. It was a hot day. I was reading the newspaper. My little baby was having a bath in her makeshift bath tub.
After her bath, she was bundled up in warm clothes and handed over to me. Well, I am not an expert in babies. And to say the least, I was clueless on what to do. She looked at me expectantly. Maybe she wanted me to belt out the latest lullaby chart-buster. That must be easy. But then nothing seemed to come to my mind and I was worried that once she heard my singing voice, she might suffer nightmares for many days to come.
This got me really thinking hard again. Lo and behold! An image flashed in my mind. But what was I thinking. It was the Periodic Table of Elements. Well, Surely not my idea of a relaxing time. Chemistry was never a great favorite. But one has to do with the cards that we are dealt with. So putting on my best singing voice, I composed a tune. A talent that till date I had not shared with the world. I was only worried that she should not start yelling adding to the cacophony of the song. But risks have to be taken.
And I started off…
Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium,
Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen,
Flourine, Neon, Flourine, Neon
Flourine, Neon, Flourine, Neon
Well, She did not yell. And Yes! She smiled. That was so good. And I did it again and again till she went off to sleep contentedly…Zzzzzzzzz
That felt great. I had chanced upon a chart buster and over the next couple of years she loved to keep hearing it from me and my wife and make attempts at singing it. For the first time somebody actually wanted me to sing for them…..Hurrah!!!!
And one day when she was around three, she got up in the morning and was very insistent that I take a video of her singing this stuff — the whole of the Periodic table. And this is what it looked like…
If the above video does not play, go to the following link
Well, That was how things changed. But the events that happened next set me on a completely new course….
