NEST

In the last few years whenever I think of a nest I automatically also think of an instrument that was used in space.

The definition of this instrument.: ’An instrument for writing or drawing with ink, typically consisting of a metal nib or ball, or a nylon tip, fitted into a metal or plastic holder’. 

This is the impact of Bollywood.

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As shown in the movie.

The white curly-haired Director reaches the hostel in a cycle. He then strides down the corridor, birds nest in hand, as nervous freshmen rush past him to gather in the courtyard. The Director reaches them and slows down.

Viru Sahastrabuddhe: What is this?

Chatur, an NRI student from Uganda: A koel bird’s nest, sir.

Viru Sahastrabuddhe: Wrong. A koel bird never makes her own nest. She lays her eggs in other nests and when they hatch, what do they do? They throw the other eggs out of the nest.”

He holds up an egg from the nest and drops it. The egg splatters on the ground. The students wince at the brutal action.

”Competition over. Their life begins with murder. That’s nature. Compete or die.”

He starts moving towards a raised platform in the courtyard, where the office peon Govind stands attentively, next to a pile of cardboard cartons. The Director hands over the nest to Govind. 

Pointing towards the cartons he says, ”And these are the eggs you pushed to get into ICE.”

”Don’t forget, ICE gets 400,000 applications a year and only 200 are selected – you!”

”You also are like the koel birds.”

With a sudden movement, he turns over a carton. ICE application forms spill out onto the courtyard floor.

He continues pointing towards the forms,

”And these? Finished. Broken eggs. 

My son ... he tried for three years.

... Rejected. Every time. 

Remember, life is a race. If you don’t run fast, you’ll get trampled.”

”Let me tell you a very interesting story.”

He pulls out a pen from his pocket and shows it to the students.

”This is an astronaut pen. Fountain pens and ballpoint pens don’t work in outer space. So scientists spent millions to invent this pen. It can write at any angle, in any temperature, in zero gravity. One day, when I was a student the Director of our institute called me. He said, “Viru Sahastrabuddhe”. I said, “Yes, Sir”. “Come here”. I got scared. He showed me this pen. He said, “This is a symbol of excellence”. “I give it to you”. “When you come across an extraordinary student like yourself pass it on to him”. For 32 years, I’ve been waiting for that student. But no luck. Anyone here who’ll strive to win this pen? 

A curious bright-eyed young student puts up his hand at this stage and asked Professor Viru Sahastrabuddhe a question, “Why astronauts did not use a pencil?”

The student, as you all know by now, was one of the ’3 Idiots’ that flew out of the nest three years later and was a success story.

That student was none other than Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad aka Rancho aka Phunsukh Wangdu.

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Images of the nest and this writing instrument both go hand in hand.

To elaborate on this and hit home my point let me tell you a story.

It is a story based in an Engineering college.

It was a story that started with Professor Velankar.

Professor Ganpatrao Velankar. 

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Ganpatrao Velankar was the Director of this renowned Engineering Institute and all his staff and students loved him. He was an educator of engineering but more than that he was a great talker and an amazing teacher.

Today as he spoke to the cream of his teaching faculty he could see all five of them glued to his words. 

Though they were professors in their rights, they were still his students and they sat around his desk listening and clinging to every word that he had to say.

His office was strewn with artefacts that he loved to collect.

Along with other artefacts decorating the room a handmade decorative of a birds straw nest adorned a table in the corner of his office. It was well made and looked natural. A handcrafted stuffed grey koyal bird was perched on this nest creating a visual of the bird protecting some eggs. There were five hand-painted wooden eggs which again looked natural. 

Director Velankar was on the verge of retiring and he had a gut feeling that one day one among these five would become the next Director of the institution. They would be Director of the prestigious  Imperial College of Engineering (ICE)

Today however he would be handing one of them, a memento. That person who was his favourite would become the new owner of this prized possession.

His hand moved to the top pocket of his jacket.

As his hand touched the cold metal of the clip he began reminiscing. 

His memory took him back to 1975 and his college educational visit to ISRO.

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In 1962,  on the urging of scientist Vikram Sarabhai who recognised the need in space research, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established by Jawaharlal Nehru under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)

Within a few years, INCOSPAR grew and became ISRO, within DAE in 1969.

In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS.

Ganpatrao remembered 19 April 1975 when ISRO built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union.

Following this feat and the surrounding success of this launch, engineering students in India got excited about space study and ways to get into space. 

ISRO now welcomed visitors.

Various college trips were organised from all over the country to ISRO and groups of students were taken around non-secretive areas of the facility that were open to the public. 

Professor Ganpatrao Velankar took a group of engineering students, to visit the ISRO Bangalore facility on a field trip and met some very intelligent scientists. 

On that visit to ISRO, impressed by his dedication to engineering and teaching, one of the top scientists had gifted the professor a very special pen.

It was a pen that had been used in space experiments. 

It was a Fisher Space Pen.

This pen was an astronauts’ pen that worked at any angle, under any temperature, in zero gravity. 

It was believed that originally Paul C. Fisher, founder of Fisher Pen Company from Illinois, United States, independently spent $1 million to develop the Fisher Space Pen.

One of the crucial elements of a normal ball-point or gel pen is gravity, which pushes the ink to spread on the paper. Besides, if pressure is created in its ink tank, the ink is prone to leakage.

To solve these problems, the Space Pen uses a ballpoint made of tungsten carbide, which is fitted airtight so that no pressure is created in the ink. The pressurized ink, which flows when put to use or otherwise remains more viscous, is forced out using compressed nitrogen. The ink is sealed airtight to avoid leakage.

When Fisher pitched his new product to NASA, the space agency’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston performed extensive tests on the pen. They tried to write using the Fisher Space Pen at multiple angles, multiple temperatures and multiple atmospheric conditions.

After it passed the required tests, NASA approved the pen and bought 400 space pens at a rate of $6 apiece. Soon, the Russian space agency too bought the Fisher pens.

There was a limited circulation of these pens and they were not easily available in the open market. Space centres around the world used them in their space programs and tests. 

It was under these circumstances that ISRO had got hold of some of these pens and Professor Ganpatrao Velankar was now a proud owner of one of them. 

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Back in the office surrounded by these five gentlemen he cleared his throat and said, “Viru Sahastrabuddhe”. 

The curly-haired gentleman, youngest among the five, stood up and said, “Yes, Sir”. 

Viru had been a bright student of ICE.

After completing his Engineering in this same college his love for teaching had initiated him to join the faculty as a teaching assistant.

After completing a teacher training programme under the Director he was on his way to becoming an accomplished professor.

Viru Sahastrabuddhe looked a bit scared. 

Velankar said, “Come here”. 

He showed him the pen and said, “This is a symbol of excellence”. “I give it to you”. Viru was dumbfounded. The story of this historic space pen was well known in the college and everyone was in awe of it.

He could not believe that the Director had chosen him to be its new owner. He felt humbled.

“When you come across an extraordinary student like yourself pass it on to him”.

Professor Viru was elated. He bowed his head and thanked the Director. 

The room burst out with claps and cries of encouragement from his other four colleagues.

After accepting the pen and promising to carry on the tradition to hand it to a deserving student, Professor Viru suddenly looked up and made an odd request.

Looking and pointing towards the table in the corner of the room he asked the Director in a humble tone,

”Could I have the nest with the stuffed Koyal and the eggs?”

”I would like to use this to drive a hard-hitting lesson on every welcome day to the new joiners of this institution.”

Everyone in the room looked surprised at this request for the bird's nest.

Director Velankar however quickly concealed his curiosity. He walked to the table and lifting the nest with the stuffed bird and the eggs handed it over to Professor Viru.

He then called on the top of his voice for the office peon.

”Govind”

A young peon with a grey uniform rushed into the room.

”Get a box to pack this nest”

Govind rushed out and returned a few minutes later. He had a medium-sized cardboard box with a lid.

Carefully placing the nest, the stuffed bird and the eggs in them Govind now handed over the box to the Professor. Nest, bird and eggs in the box, space pen in his pocket Professor Viru Sahastrabuddhe now walked out of the Director's office with a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

As he walked out a drama was enacted in his mind. He was setting the stage and lines for the welcome speech that he would play out year after year to the new joiners.

He was confident that it would be an impactful performance.

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A few years later Viru Sahastrabuddhe was the new Director of ICE and this drama that he had visualised with the nest and the pen continued year after year at ICE.

For visual impact, he had replaced the painted wooden eggs in the nest with real eggs. 

Chicken Eggs!!

Credit for Images and details -- the Internet.