Travel Story

 

Nuwara Eliya is actually two different cities, when the sun shines it’s one of the most pleasant and picturesque cities in the country. But on this cold, dark, damp evening near the Gregory Lake it was one of the most dismal places I have ever been to. Lake Gregory was once a Swampy Bog, but in 1873 British Governor Sir William Gregory decided to dam the Thalagala Lake that originated in the Piduruthalagala Mountains and this strange lake was born. People seemed to have come to this central gathering place near the lake in bad light to have fun. I decided to take a boat ride, in the distance I could see the once beautiful mountains that I had admired on an earlier visit, now seemed alarming and bleak at the same time. The boat ride was boring and monotonous, nothing much happens and the biggest thrill is at the end when the boat thuds into the rubber tires almost throwing you overboard. The next thing to do seemed to be a five kilometer bike ride in a track adjoining the lake and I decided to try it. I found that I was the only person on this track. A cold, dark, lonely, wind blew from the river to the track. What in God’s name was I doing here?

After what seemed like an endless ride, on that dark, damp night, I mercifully came to the end of the track. I had ridden 5 Kilometers but it seemed much longer. Just as I turned and started to ride back it started to rain heavily. I was soaked, there was a man walking in the distance, probably a park employee. When I asked him where I could find some shelter he showed me a distant tree. At the tree there were five Indians four men and a woman. They jabbered in their language and sometimes used English in between. From what I could gather one of them had a serious illness that meant he could possibly die if he got wet on a downpour like this. He also had depression. You could see the others trying desperately to cheer him by telling Hindi jokes and talking to him like a chicken etc. The tree offered very little shelter so I decided to ride on. Then I returned the bike and decided to walk to town. Considering how many people visit it, you always get the feeling that Nuwara Eliya is an under-lit city. It really is very dark. Eventually I had walked near the outskirts of the city. The rain had stopped and the sky seemed clear and I looked up. God the stars from here were gorgeous. They were the brightest I had ever seen and from here the city looked incredible and I realized I liked Nuwara Eliya even when it was dark.

Michael Faraday

 

Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was an English physicist and chemist. Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction led to his invention of the electric motor and electric generator. His inventions laid the basis for much of the technology of the 20th century. In 1821 he had used a magnet and a wire containing an electric current to produce mechanical motion, thereby creating an electric motor. Ten years later Faraday reversed the process: using magnetism to produce an electric current, he invented the dynamo, or generator.

Faraday formulated the basic laws of electrolysis during his early work in chemistry. Ion, anode cathode and electrode are some of the chemical terms he introduced. In 1825 he became the first to liquefy gases under pressure. In 1845 he discovered the Faraday Effect of magnetism on polarized light. His later days were spent in formulating a general electromagnetic field theory, later completed by James Clerk Maxwell. The farad is named for him.

The son of a blacksmith in Newington, Surrey, Faraday received little formal schooling. He became interested in science while apprenticed to a London bookbinder. In 1813 he got a job as laboratory assistant to Sir Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution in London. Faraday became director of the laboratory in 1825 and professor of chemistry in 1833. He scorned wealth and worldly honors, refusing knighthood and the presidency of the Royal Society. While other men made money from his discoveries Faraday devoted himself exclusively to scientific research.

The Other Side of Science

 

Science that filled the moon with men

Built planes rockets and flaming jets

Split the atom to countless shreds

Put empty dreams on bad men's heads

Could not duplicate a simple leaf

Or solace a man filled with grief

Clouds that filled the earth with rain

Filled wells rivers and mighty lakes

Was it the work of earthly heads

Or God's hand overhead

Science may harness a million powers

Make greedy men its earnest lovers

Make a few to rule many

Desperate people without any money

But can they bend the hands of Time

That neither you, I nor them can bind

No my friends they just can’t

All of us have to reach the Past