Moonshine

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Latter half of 1957.

I left my Village School and joined College in a small town. The difference is that we had 'current' in our house. I was living with my uncle (Principal) and his sweet daughter who looked after me like my own 'Didi'.

We had a Murphy Radio set with tubes glowing red all over and heating up like an oven (in winter it was 'cool' to sit beside it). 59 of its 60 watts were eaten up by Joule leaving 1 Watt to Marconi (J. C. Bose) and the other Bose of the Speaker fame.

12 hours of radio listening was by my Didi tuning in to Radio Ceylone Hindi Filmi Geet, leaving 15 minutes to my uncle's 9 P. M. All-India Radio News read by Melville de Mello (I couldn't make out his English pronunciation then like I can't the Hollywood Movies' even now).

Suddenly there was this 'beep-beep-beep' crackling all over.

In utmost secret, Russia (it was always America vs Russia) put its 'Sputnik' in Earth orbit; while America was toying with Diwali rockets.

The blow to American pride and technology was swift and merciless. Only a few months back an American spy plane was brought down by Russia in utter humiliation.

And in a few days, Russia followed up by putting a doggies Alpha and Laika up there.

And then a man (new term cosmonaut) Uri Gagarin and brought him back on solid Earth.

And then Russia quietly went in for military satellites.

Americans were squirming; their pride taking the bloodiest blow since Hitler confined Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill to confer mid-sea (they couldn't meet on land).

True to the American psyche, they went overboard, created (revamped?) NASA, recruiting even IIT KGP Doctorates, and Kennedy committed their Nation to be the first to put Man on the Moon.

By then I joined University at Waltair. The first day on my trip to the University I took a city bus, No. 10, which was nicknamed 'Sputink'. I asked why. And was told that instead of going straight like the other University Buses, it took the circuitous route via the Ramakrishna Mutt Beach Road; such was the dominance of Russia over America.

By 1965, when I joined KGP, I tasted the fruit of American enterprise: Caltech and Berkeley, among others, decided that the Russian dominance was due to Landau and his school giving free and top-notch Physics education to their undergrads. And they roped in Nobel-winners like Feynman and Purcell to come down and teach their UGs. And flooded the world with their cheap editions more for propaganda than real concern for the likes of us.

And the US Consulate and the American Center (?) in Calcutta flooded us with free American novels and a glossy magazine called 'Span' (good for covers of their books). I still have many, including the free gift of 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' (I now know that Harper Lee was a 'she' and wrote nothing else much and never gave interviews; unlike our many).

One sultry July evening around 8 P M I was sitting on the parapet of the first-floor balcony of Howrah Station on my way to Delhi; and news broke of the successful landing of the Apollo astronauts on the Moon; and thereafter their safe return back.

Americans did it! Can do!

But neither Gagarin, nor Armstrong were in the same league as Columbus, as far as adventure went. Landaus and Feynmans and NASA did it, more like.

Coming back to KGP, I was met by Professor KKG of Humanities, specializing in International Relations. To my utter surprise he made the statement: "When I was keenly listening to the first steps of Man on the Moon I suddenly became a believer in God".

To which I replied: "I suddenly knew that He isn't out there".

KKG didn't take it kindly. All sudden converts are like that.

And the Americans went on their propaganda spree.

Even in a remote nook like IIT KGP, they took over the Hangar of the Old Building and publicized their 'Moon Rock'.

Serpentine queues from Puri Gate with giggling boys and girls had their field day in that desolate town starved of entertainment.

I was sitting one evening on my lawn bench of our Faculty Hostel. Our Manager, Rajan (Carnatic Music buff) was squeezed between his two IITian sons on their scooter, returning from an unwilling trip in the queue.

As soon as he was dropped, he rushed to me and said:

"What a joke! They made me stand for two hours to show me what looked like a piece of constipated s**t!"

And he threw away the thing they pinned to his lapel proclaiming: "I saw Moon Rock!"


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