THE EDISON TRICK

THE
EDISON TRICK

  “Please,
have a seat,” he said politely, gesturing at the chair.

  I
sat down mechanically, my brain in a whirl. I had just blundered into
this room by mistake and this man had just introduced himself as
Edison. I couldn’t see his face, hidden under the shadow of his
worn hat, but his hand kept flicking a nearby light bulb on and off.
His voice was deep and ageless.

  Sitting
across from me, he raised his legs on the table and crossed his legs,
like a detective casually questioning his suspect. His hand never
left the switch of the light bulb. “Why aren’t you in
class today?” he asked, his free hand pulling his hat closer to
his face.

  “I
couldn’t,” I replied, ashamed. “Not after knowing…”
I had no desire to face anyone after that phone call which revealed
my results.

  “Flunking
four papers in the University exams ain’t such a big deal.”
He said gently. “People do it all the time.”

  I
rolled my eyes, hearing the sentence I had heard a million times the
previous day. “I lack ability.” I stated my conclusion
without thinking.

  “Stuff
and nonsense,” the man folded his hands. “That’s
what my teacher told my mother. Had I believed her, I wouldn’t
be the person I am today.”

  “You
can’t be the
Thomas
Alva Edison,” I remarked sceptically.

  “Why
not?” he countered. “Whenever ability needs inspiration,
I enter the picture. Let’s leave it at that.”

  I
raised my eyebrow. “I doubt Edison took an engineering degree.”
I said, my voice trembling. My head was spinning with lack of sleep
the previous day. “You have no idea how it’s like now.”

  “It’s
not the end of the world. A piece of paper with numbers doesn’t
decide your future. Get over it.” He said, standing up. He
wasn’t as short as he had seemed. “Flunking is just a
phase in life.”

  “You
have any idea how this is going to affect my future?” I asked,
incredulous at his light-hearted manner.

  “Of
course! But my point is, don’t mope around because you have
back logs, do something about it!” Leaning on the table, he
raised a finger, moving into the typical lecture mode. He gestured
the light bulb. “All of us are like this light bulb: at times
we are at our best. At other times we are not so good. Have you
flunked before?” I shook my head.

  “Every
genius has his own bad moments. People asked me how I could continue
inventing after I had failed a hundred times. I told them it wasn’t
so, I just found ninety-nine ways which wouldn’t work. Taking
your failures in their stride is very important.” He flicked
the light bulb on and off rapidly. “Consider this one of those
instants where you were not at your best. Because remember, one
period of darkness is followed by one of light. This pitfall should
not be your undoing, but it should be your stepping stone to success.
And never forget: it’s your attitude that counts.”

  I
kept a motionless exterior, but something in me snapped.

***

  “You
will not believe this!” I cried as I saw my two friends.

  They
were looking at me as sombrely as if somebody had died. “Hey,
we saw the mark sheet,” Kiran said comfortingly, patting me on
the back.

  “Don’t
worry, your attendance is in order,” Thejus flashed me a
sympathetic smile and a thumbs-up.

  I
shrugged. “It’s not the end of the world, is it? I’ll
write the re-test and pass for sure.”

  The
two of them exchanged a look. “Remember what you said before
the University exams?” Thejus reminded me. “How you would
end up ‘mission-less’ and ‘motionless’ if you
flunked?”

  “There’s
nothing I can achieve by doing all that, is there?” I said,
sighing. “I just have to work harder.”

  “Hey
Adithya!” Kiran called to somebody who was standing behind me.
“Time to end the drama!”

  I
turned to find ‘Edison’ standing there who, on removing
the hat, I saw my third friend, grinning wickedly at me. “We
tweaked your marks to see your reaction. In reality, you are all
pass.”

  “Your
CGPA is 8. Nice work!” Thejus put an arm around my shoulders.

  “So,
for this unexpected period of light,” Adithya spoke in the
voice reserved for Edison. “when is the celebration?”

  So
it was hook, line and sinker. I looked at all of them, who were
barely controlling their laughter. “Et tu Brutus,” I
managed to croak.