I liked science in my schooldays as long as it was confined
to learning from textbooks (without the arithmetical parts, of course). We had
laboratory practical classes I guess, from the ninth standard. This was a time
when your lessons started getting complex with hints of a dangerous exam
approaching, referred by the name of 'secondary board examination'. In my case it
was called ICSE. Anyway, since this one is dedicated to my science lab
experiences, let’s move on with that.
Our chemistry lab in the school was in the first floor. It
didn’t have too much of light coming inside, so the lab was dark and once you
stepped inside, a familiar ‘chemically smell’ greeted your nostrils. It was
something similar to that of a pharmacist’s shop unless there was a release of
Hydrogen disulphide or Chlorine gas or its sorts, that would make you wish that
you were carrying an oxygen mask. However, the chemistry lab was both a
delighting and interesting place to visualise. There were rows of tables which
contained wooden racks (or so I remember). The racks had many shelves which
were decked with colourful chemicals in glass bottles. Each bottle had the name
of the chemical it contained pasted on it. But one had to be careful. There
were always some overzealous kids who would secretly mix one bottle with the
other or sprinkle some chemical powder or salt in them. The result would be
that the liquid inside the victimized bottle would mysteriously change its
colour like a chameleon. So, you had to make sure that the apparently harmless
chemical was exactly what it was named.
In the beginning classes of chemistry lab, we were first
introduced to the several apparatuses that are used in the lab. By the time I
appeared for ICSE, I only remembered some test tube, Bunsen burner, Litmus
paper and common stuffs because we got busier with the chemicals and their
reactions than the collection of apparatuses we learnt. It was cool at the
beginning, at least for me. We had to sketch the apparatuses on our interleaf
lab book. Needless to say that this was the perfect and only chance to display
one’s artistic skills on the lab copy. What later followed was a series of mind
boggling chemical reactions and jitters if you were not sure if the reaction
went right or not. I used to get nervous when I wasn’t sure if I was able to
correctly identify a salt or gas.
I remember that once I was struggling to identify a
precipitate because I couldn’t see anything settling at the bottom of the test
tube. I hurried to the teacher with a perplexed face to know where the
precipitate disappeared. I still remember our teacher shaking the test tube in
front of my nose and telling me that the cloudy appearance of the solution
indicated that there was a precipitate. Precipitates are not always like sand
settling at the bottom!
Then there were horrid times named ‘viva’. Once we had a 5
marks viva as a part of internal tests. It wasn’t usually so, because for
internal tests we mostly had written tests or experiments. Anyway, it was a bad
luck for most. The viva was being conducted in the lab itself. The teacher
seemed to be amusing herself while most of us were fumbling with the answers. The
questions were tough compared to our standard and so most of us were securing a
perfect ‘anda’ (anda means egg in
Indian colloquial, also used for indicating zero marks for obvious reasons!). When
my turn arrived I was as good as dead. This viva and oral test stuffs were my
nightmares. I resented these tests like anything. Firstly I would suffer in
anticipation with sweaty palms till my turn arrived. Secondly when my turn did
arrive I would pray that I don’t swoon while trying to answer. Many a times I
would stutter while answering, out of anxiousness. In this case I was mentally
prepared for a wholesome anda beside
my roll number on the grade sheet. I stood close to the teacher and suspected
that she could hear my heart throbbing like a wild horse (I was grateful that
it didn’t pop out!). To my dismay she asked me a question to which I knew the
answer. She asked me what is the gas used for the flame on cooking burners. I answered
“LPG” right away. Some kids, especially the brilliant lot were disheartened.
Many of them couldn’t answer their viva questions and reasoned that my question
was too easy. Maybe it was, but I had a nice feeling after this unexpected
success. Later what followed was pretty humorous, at least for my friends.
While I chatted with them during lunch my friend suddenly asked me,
“Hey, do you know the full form of LPG?”
“Sure, I do. It’s Low Pressurized Gas!”
And that did it. My friends went ROFL. My cheeky pal
gleefully told me that I was lucky the teacher didn’t ask me the full form of
LPG. Otherwise I too was destined for an anda.
There used to be a mad flurry before the chemistry lab class.
Kids who would forget their lab coats would be running across corridors,
rummaging inside classrooms to see if anybody had one in other classes. Teachers
were always perturbed by such annoyance but it didn’t stop the kids from
forgetting. Some were so regular without their lab coats; I suspected they didn’t
buy one for themselves. For me detention was equal to purging in hell. I really
don’t remember forgetting my own lab coat. I was also quite possessive about
mine. I wouldn’t hand it out to any naive junior or a gawky senior. I would
only share with one or two of my bosom friends in case they forgot. This lab
coat sharing also had an interesting thing about it. For many who had their
admirers in other classes would confidently come to school without their lab
coats. Some were pretty popular and had a string of admirers in almost every
other class. So some girls (or boys) would like to carry their lab coats even
on non lab days in prospects of an unlikely brushing of fingers while handing out
the lab coat to their heartthrob seniors.
Anyway what would a lab (especially chemistry) be without lab
accidents? There were dangers of getting your skin burnt by acids if you were
not careful while handling them. Once, two of my friends had got mercury
poisoning. Mercury is very poisonous and it is a danger if it penetrates the
skin and enters the bloodstream. The lab reaction had yielded small silver
mercury globules and they didn’t appear dangerous at all (to be honest they
appeared very pretty to me! Lucky I didn’t touch them). My friends were okay
later on and they are still alive. A common accident in the chemistry lab would
be the cracking of a test tube. If you heated it too long and washed it immediately
thereafter, you had to brace yourself for glass shards. Our lab assistant would
check if we were returning the apparatuses properly after using them. Well,
some were pretty cool and one wouldn’t mind popping them inside one’s pocket (if
they could fit it) to keep it as a souvenir in their home!
After the tenth standard I chose humanities. So I bid
farewell to science lab sessions. Many times my lab encounters were harrowing in
case as I already mentioned- couldn’t figure out the reactions. Now these
things amuse me but I used to freak out that time. This was my first part of lab
experience series. There is more to come shortly, as soon as I remember more of
“my feeble adventures”!
Thank you. You can leave your comments. Take care!
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