THE WIZARD OF AWE !
What is Science ? In lay man’s terms, it is the study of Nature and System. Some enthusiasts may use words like “passion” and “fascination” to describe it. Whatever you may like to term it as, you cannot really deny the fact that all the Science we encounter is in the text books and the lectures we come across as students. Neither of these sources can really show you how beautiful science can be. Neither of them can show you that Science exists in every aspect of one’s life. This is why the Director of our Institute, Mr. Vyankatesh Prabhudesai, decided to invite a rather dynamic and unique personality Mr. Vijay Verekar to visit the students of STD XI and XII of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School on 5th July ’16. Mr. Varekar was warmly welcomed by the Director and formally introduced by Pratheek Rebello, a student.
Mr. Verekar, a personality who really enraptured the young crowd , brought back the fizz in physics. His experiments were by far the most unique my friends and I have witnessed. Mr. Verekar performed a series of scientific experiments just like a magician, the only difference being that there were no tricks here. The only way to figure it out was to understand the laws and concepts of Physics which he explained in his own charismatic way! The eager students enthusiastically participated in performing the experiments.
We could claim him as the ambassador of “Wealth out of Waste” , with all the waste plastic bottles, syringes , balloons and junk that he put to use so effectively.
In one of his several experiments, Mr. Verekar managed to get an egg through the narrow mouth of a glass vase. The crux of the experiment was the fact that hot air rises and creates a zone of low pressure. Hot water was poured into the vase and then, the egg was placed at the mouth. The egg blocked any air from outside to flow into the vase. Thus, it bore the brunt of the massive atmospheric pressure and got pushed in. In another experiment, he cut a long slit into a bottle and filled it with water. Common intuition tells us that the bottle would leak, but it didn’t. Careful observation made it evident that the water level being well above the slit obstructed any air from entering the slit thereby preventing any transfer of matter between the bottle and the surroundings.
Mr. Verekar acts like a breath of fresh air in the monotonous and rigid rote learning system followed in many schools. By giving a practical demo of the concepts of Physics and Chemistry which otherwise are left to the students’ imagination when studied from a text, Mr. Verekar is truly helping students understand the wonders of science and generate massive interest in taking up research in these wonderful subjects.
Mr. Verekar has previously given hundreds of such presentations, and at the end of it, it was not difficult to see why. Simple, economic and yet amazing, his experiments restored in us our inquisitiveness and curiosity. His style of presenting was nothing less than enthralling and it did draw gasps and thundering applause !!
– Prepared by Aditya Karve