Saturday, November 30, 2013

The perfection

There it was - the perfection personified.  The glitter and the internal reflections that startle the beholder's eyes, the affluence that belies the milieu it was placed,  it was a 120 carat perfection.  Yes after 10 years of hard work and sweat, countless ridicule, university loosing its patience, there it was for the entire world to see.  Easily one of the largest diamonds in the world, it was 100 % synthetic. Diamond is just a form of carbon, rather an imperfect one that makes it visually so audacious. As an autodidact analytical chemist, he had set his goal after his doctorate to simplify the process of diamond making.  In reality diamond making requires only two things, pressure and temperature.  Naturally the diamonds take millions of years to harden and acquire the brilliance that distinguishes it from the rest of the mediocrity.  Even the million years of efforts hardly produce a diamond as huge as the one that was lying there.  The accolades, wealth beyond his imagination, he could see them all at a stone's throw.  A quick phone call, and he had decided the destiny of the first diamond he forged.

She was also happy. High school sweethearts who lasted the distance, the amount of trust and companionship each other had was immense, inspite of the lack of affluence.  Two really passionate people in their respective fields - it was almost the perfect marriage till his dream started eating away most of his time. After their daughter was born, he hardly came home.  No festivities, family vacations or even a proper family dinner. She took the responsibility of bringing up the daughter as well as financially managing the household. As she was growing professionally, the communication with him reduced every passing minute. But both, deep down knew that it was just a matter of time before the normality resumed, though it took more than a decade. His success means that he would finally return and make up for all the lost time with the family. And his first gesture was so touching for her, a beautiful necklace embedded with the very first diamond he forged successfully.

But contrary to her hope the next half an year was even more busy than first anticipated. Basically his invention has paved a leeway to simplify the muti-billion dollar diamond business.  The illegal mining, the racketing, as well as the obnoxious pricing of the diamonds, all these will be checked. On the downside, most of the big corporates were vying to make use of his work. The amount of partys and awards thrown particularly for him were simply astounding.  She had been accompanying him as a model showcasing  his accomplishment. It was interesting for her to see her socially inept husband hogging the limelight.

He was enjoying every moment of the attention he was getting. After being in the wilderness this was a welcome change.   But this award he is going to get today, is very special - Country's highest award for scientific achievement. Sitting on the stage, he could get enough of the accolades from dignitaries who went on talking about how wonderful scientist he was. Finally getting bored, he looked at the audience. In the first row, she was sitting calm and vibrant as usual. A sudden fit of rage hit him as he noticed that she was not wearing that necklace. He could not understand he logic behind she not wearing the special necklace, on such an  important occasion. Rather the only jewelry she was wearing was a crappy necklace. On close examination, it was the same crappy necklace that he could afford when they had got married.

That night, they had their first family dinner together in years!!