Scientist MOMO

From our childhood days MOMO was interested in science. He was the one in our class-II who discovered the technology of battery light. We were astonished with his self-made gadget with two batteries, one torch bulb and complex network of wires. It was his old launch box which used to glow when opened. Wow!!

Time to time he built different things and I was one of the privileged to attain his lunch time lectures on science. (Though later we came to know that the theories were not developed by him. Only he used to read some science magazines. It was very rare as we lived in a very remote town)

It was 1996-97 and we were in class VIII when the revolution came. He discovered the most important and useful material “Single use Invisible Ink” code named MAK (Magic Kaali. Kaali means ink in Bengali). The feature of the ink is it is invisible normally. It surfaces only if the paper is soaked in water. Most important if you soak it next time hardly anything is visible. (I will share the technique later).

MAK was an instant hit among us. We used to spend our whole day practicing. We were convinced about its enormous potential. Hidden messages, Chits (OOPS!), Secrets, even some considered it for their personal Dairies (That’s practically impossible as process is good for small texts). However MOMO had something bigger in his mind.

Here you need to know that there was a girl in our class but in other school. She was gorgeous and incidentally the first crush of many of us including MOMO. Her name was (actually is) HSBC or officially HanSika BhattaCharya. (Hey Hansika we are still friends ok). We knew her for almost for a year but none had any idea how to express their feeling. In a bright sunny day MOMO left his first love letter in her bag while we were writing notes in tuition class.

We along with MOMO waited for two weeks for any reaction. Nothing Happened. The year got over and we were promoted to new class. After vacations we came to know that Hansika’s father got transferred to Calcutta (Now Kolkata). We used to discuss a lot about our unfinished plans and probabilities. We also asked MOMO what he wrote in his letter. He never revealed.

Only after we got into college he told me that he wrote a poem to HSBC in MAK. I asked then why do you think she had not replied. He said, “Actually I forgot to mention the process to read the letter and she was not aware of MAK. Also I had met her once before she left. She told me that she was very irritated to find some bunch of useless blank paper in her bag. She knew it was me who left it. And she forgave me because anyway she was leaving the place.” Then MOMO burst out in laughter and lectured, “Look I have learnt a very good thing from the incident (or accident). Never in your life complicate things when it can be done in a simpler way.”

N.B: Hansika those were not bunch of useless blank papers but were innocent feelings of many compiled by MOMO.