Memoir: Perish the Thoughts of an Angry Young Man (Episode Two)

By Newton-Ray Ukwuoma

 (Have you read Episode One?)

Newton’s law

Integrated Science is meant to introduce the junior classes into the world of the three major arms of sciences: Biology, Physics and Chemistry.This, of course, accounts for the term “integrated”. But I, and most of my peers, didn’t see it in such a clinical manner. It could have been much more loathed like mathematics had I not projected an arrow of intellectual inquiry on the subject for which my only target was Newton.

Inter Science as we often called it was my goal. You can’t imagine how far such resolve can lead a young fellow who had neither lunch or breakfast to worry about but to look for and clean up pieces of adventure whenever he finds one lying about. The school library welcomed me in its own way. It was a space not much to be called a hall or a room but rather something in the middle of hall and room. But that it was a room in the large hall of our chapel made it clear to see what the priority was for the school management. The truth was that we didn’t see any offence in the unequal favours that the chapel enjoyed over the library. Though the chapel was the biggest hall in the school and the only hall that had beautiful decorations such as white tablecloths for the wooden podium and the two tables that were joined together to form one single table, we never bothered. The pews, the drum sets all lying there in great sanctimony gave me a sense of piety any time I peeped in from my regular routine from the library. It did not give me any offence. I was like many other students in the boarding school — a church boy. But what worried me greatly and to a point of protest at least to the librarian on an occasion was that we hadn’t enough books to read. For instance I could recall that having perused the Evans print of Integrated Science for Junior Secondary School I, II, & III without finding satisfaction about Newton I proceeded to the Physics textbooks. There was no consolation with Okeke and Ababio, the two authorities on the subject. Taken on merit, they both described the laws and their confusing operations and formulae but none of them had the story of the man who made the laws. That was an angle of my inquiry I wanted so much. When I had comfortably settled the laws in a very safe corner of my head, I had wanted to get some closure with the life of this man, but our meagerly equipped library had its own worries other than shortage of books on Isaac Newton. Tables half eaten by vicious bugs were often placed on a side of the wall to prevent them from crashing completely. And there was the watchful librarian, who made sure to notice and reprimand any unnecessary jerking whatsoever. But the chairs had songs of their own anyway, at least; whenever anyone sat on them. Reading in the library was usually quiet except from the choruses of jerking chairs interrupting every now and then. It was easy to know when a seat has been occupied by a new reader and when an old reader is about to leave. Just the rocking sounds from almost all the seats made that very possible. We never complained. It never occurred to us that we deserved more. And it never occurred to the school either. It was natural to make sure the chapel had a fitting ambiance with drums and other musical instruments without adding rocking pews to them. But the library was just an old lady and capable of its own welfare. I spent most of my break times and some of the lunch breaks in this library. I could easily help myself around the library blindfolded. And that is not only because I knew where almost everything was placed, but it was proof of how small and very little supplies my dear library received. Books were the worst hit of its ineptitude. If you took your time in less than one hour you could easily boast about the total number of books our library had. Well, I don’t want to boast but I can recall that it hardly had up to 500 books including all the Government donated books such as Intensive and Comprehensive English and Mathematics for the Junior Classes in their ridiculous large numbers. At the very tender days of our acquaintance, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I stop seeing the library. And it was a very easy prophecy. It was no longer place for my intellectual advancement. In fact, I had been very much distracted with its inadequacies and my deep desire for more. I was thirsty. You wouldn’t blame a land deprived of rain for a very long time for looking just as dry after a first shower! It is simply the way with lands; it is the way with humans too; it is the general way of nature; and it was the way with me.I had hit my first breakthrough, at least, it seemed almost so, and the floodgates of desire for more could not be helped.  After a few days in the library I could fix my seniors even in Senior Class Three with the wisdom of Isaac Newton’s three comprehensive laws. At least, I knew them verbally and that was something to stand on. It was as one who had discovered a beautiful tale about how his eyes are squint; and has become story-ready at the slightest confrontation, making everyone want to have a pretty squint pair of eyes.

(Wait for Episode Three)