Suddenly, the speaker connected to the receiver started beeping sharply. Hearing the sound, Professor Kumar turned to Ramesh with excitement and said, “Ramesh, concentrate your mind again and think of something.” Ramesh focused his mind once more and brought a thought into his consciousness. Again, the speaker attached to the receiver beeped. After repeating the process two or three times, Professor Kumar became convinced that his receiver had successfully begun detecting signals from the human brain. He began to sway with joy, raising his hands and shouting uncontrollably, “Ramesh, I’ve done it! I’ve successfully detected signals generated by the human brain using this receiver.” Great sir Ramesh responded. Then, full of enthusiasm, Professor Kumar began explaining to Ramesh, “Look Ramesh, when a person thinks, the neurons in the brain become active and generate electro-chemical signals. In fact, human thought is nothing but a collection of these electro-chemical signals. If we can detect and classify all these electrical signals, we could actually read human thoughts. Ramesh asked curiously, “Sir, is that really possible?” “Yes, yes, absolutely possible,” Professor Kumar replied confidently.
After achieving initial success, Professor Kumar’s enthusiasm kept growing rapidly—day by day, night by night—as if a growing plant had received just the right amount of water and fertilizer. He spent all his time in the lab, with no concern for food or rest. Now, even in his dreams, he could see nothing but his experiment. From time to time, he would explain parts of the experiment to Ramesh:
“Look, Ramesh, I’m detecting the signals generated by your brain during the process of thinking, and I'm observing them on the computer screen in the form of waves. The shape and frequency of these waves change according to the changes in your thoughts. I study these variations and classify the waves based on what you're thinking.
I ask you to think about certain specific topics. The moment you focus on one of them, I study the shape and frequency of the brain waves produced by your thoughts. After that, I relate the topic you think about with the shape and frequency of the signals generated from them whenever you think of the same type of topic, the waves show a consistent pattern in shape and frequency. In this way, I classify the waves according to different thoughts and convert them into written form using a computer program — essentially reading your mind.”
After nearly two months of hard effort, Professor Kumar finally achieved success. He would repeatedly ask Ramesh to think of something, and as soon as text appeared on the computer screen corresponding to Ramesh’s thoughts, he would read it aloud. Hearing it, Ramesh would exclaim in amazement, “Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I was thinking!” This gave Professor Kumar the same joy a mother feels upon seeing her newborn child. Today, he felt proud of his invention. Overjoyed, he kept saying to Ramesh, “This invention of mine will become a milestone in human history. This invention will transform the entire world.” Hearing this, Ramesh smiled, but after a moment of silence, he spoke with a hint of concern, “But sir, this could also have negative effects on society. It might impact personal relationships and weaken the social fabric.” Upon hearing this, Professor Kumar fell silent for a while. Then, in a serious tone, he said, “I’ve made the invention. My job is to invent. How society uses it—that’s up to society.” Ramesh responded, “But sir, we are also part of this society. We too have some social responsibilities. We must consider those as well.” Professor Kumar nodded and said, “Alright, since you say so, I will study its social impact myself for a few days. I’ll reveal this invention to the world only after that.” Ramesh – "That would be right, sir."
Now Professor Kumar always kept his receiver connected to his laptop. From time to time, he would detect signals from a person’s brain and read the decoded messages on the laptop screen. One day, while sitting in his office chatting with some colleagues, silently, he was reading the decoded messages on his laptop. As various conversations took place, he suddenly became stunned upon reading the brain signals of his colleague Madan. Professor Kumar held Madan in high regard. He was among his closest friends. Since Madan was slightly junior to him, he had missed out on a promotion, and Kumar, being senior, was made the head of the institution. When that promotion had happened, Madan appeared genuinely happy and spoke with warmth. But now, the reality unfolded before Kumar’s eyes. The fake outer behavior disappeared, and the real thoughts became visible. Madan was silently thinking, "Oh! Just because he is six months senior to me, he has become my boss. Otherwise, I would be the one sitting in that chair." He was burning with jealousy. Seeing this, Professor Kumar's expression fell. Was this the same close friend whom he considered like a brother? He couldn't believe it. He began to doubt whether the detector had made a mistake. But again and again, the screen displayed the same message. To confirm, he brought the small detector closer to Madan to ensure the signal was really coming from him. And yes, it was. His heart heavy, Kumar lost interest in conversation. He quickly shut his laptop, placed it in his bag, and started to leave. Seeing him get up, Madan respectfully asked, "Sir, where are you going so suddenly?" Kumar looked at his face again—so full of courtesy and politeness. Such grace in speech! It was hard to believe. The more courteous Madan appeared, the more it hurt Kumar—like receiving a rotten sweet in a beautiful package. He walked out swiftly.
When he reached home, his wife said, "Thank God, you came home early for once." By the time Professor Kumar finished washing his hands, his wife had already prepared halwa. As they ate, the couple made plans to go out to a restaurant that evening. When evening came and both of them were nearly ready to leave, Professor Kumar suddenly thought of something and picked up his laptop bag as well. Seeing this, his wife asked in surprise, “Why are you taking the laptop?” Professor Kumar replied, “I came home early today. There was an important email I had to draft at the office, but I couldn’t manage to do it. I thought I would do it at home—or maybe while sitting in the car.” His wife was simply delighted that he had come home early for once, so she said nothing further. After a while, the two of them got into the car. As the car started moving, Kumar opened his laptop. The driver was driving, and from time to time, Professor Kumar gave him directions to the restaurant. The driver nodded and kept driving. But then, a little further down the road, Professor Kumar suddenly remembered that the restaurant was actually in the previous lane. He quickly said, “Oh! We’ve gone a bit too far. The restaurant was in the last lane.” The driver politely replied, "No worries, sir. I’ll take the next turn and reverse back." The driver's voice was filled with humility. But what was this! The laptop screen showed the driver’s thoughts "This old man has gone senile. Can’t even remember the way" Reading this, Kumar’s heart sank. The driver's voice was full of politeness, like a beautiful mask. Meanwhile, the driver continued to speak with the same politeness. Kumar, feeling saddened, quietly shut the laptop. After a little while, the car reached the restaurant. Both of them walked inside. Professor Kumar wanted to take his laptop bag along, but his wife didn’t let him have his way. Leaving the laptop bag in the car, they entered the restaurant. There, they ordered a light snack. Even while eating, Professor Kumar’s mind was on the laptop in the car, as if he had left something valuable behind. After finishing the snack and paying the bill, they came out and got into the car to leave. The car had barely moved a little when Professor Kumar’s phone rang. He saw that it was his close friend Shyam Babu. Upon answering the call, he learned that Shyam’s father had been admitted to a nearby hospital. He said to Shyam, “Friend, I’m close by. I’ll reach the hospital within half an hour.” A little while later, the car was near the hospital. The car stopped and the husband and wife walked into the hospital. Professor Kumar had his bag slung over his shoulder as if it were a priceless treasure. After making some inquiries at the reception, they reached the room where Shyam Babu’s father was admitted. Shyam Babu was standing outside the room. Professor Kumar asked him about his father’s condition. Shyam Babu quietly replied, “A little while ago, he was shifted to the ventilator. His condition is very critical. Now it’s all in God’s hands.”Professor Kumar placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Then they all sat on the chairs placed outside the room. Everyone was sitting quietly. Suddenly, Professor Kumar took out his laptop and switched it on along with the attached receiver, and began working on it. A little while later, the doctor could be seen coming out of the room. Seeing him, Shyam Babu immediately stood up and asked, “How is my father? When will he recover?”
Doctor-His condition is very critical. He will remain on the ventilator for now. It’s hard to say when he’ll recover.
While the two were still talking, something suddenly occurred to Professor Kumar. He turned the receiver toward the doctor and began trying to read his brain signals. As he read the computer screen, he was stunned. His eyes froze wide open. His hand stiffened. He glanced at the doctor—who was still calmly explaining things to Shyam Babu, looking like a figure of compassion. Oh! How much warmth there was in his voice! Professor Kumar was speechless. His mind grew restless. The words on the laptop screen were still visible. It read:
“The patient is already dead. But how will they know? Let’s just keep him on the ventilator overnight. In the morning, we’ll tell them he passed away during the night. That way, we can charge for the night’s ventilator use, the room, and some medications”
The doctor wrote down the names of some medicines and handed the list to Shyam Babu, saying, “You can get these medicines from the medical store downstairs. There’s no need to go outside; all these medicines are available at the hospital’s medical store.” Having said this, the doctor left.
Professor Kumar sat quietly with his eyes closed for a while, as if he had become numb right there. Then he glanced at his friend, wanting to say something but unable to find the words. Suddenly, he stood up and remained silent for a moment. Then he said to Shyam Babu, “If it is God’s will, your father will recover soon.” With that, holding back tears, Professor Kumar left with his wife. The car started moving, but this time Professor Kumar was completely silent. The laptop bag was nearby, but he no longer had the courage to take it out. When he reached home, he washed his hands and face and went straight to lie down. When his wife asked about food, he said, "I'm not hungry, you eat." His wife insisted, so he got angry and said, "I said I'm not hungry, don’t you listen even once?" His wife fell silent, thinking he must be worried about his friend’s father's ill health and decided it was better not to trouble him.
The next morning, Professor Kumar woke up early. After completing his routine, he sat silently on a chair, lost in deep thought. Then he quickly got ready, ate a little, and left for the office. His wife said, “You’re leaving early today.” Professor Kumar replied as he stepped out, “Yes, I have some important work today.” With that, he left the house. Around nine o’clock, he reached the office. The guard saluted him at the door, but he said nothing. Inside, he went straight to his chair and sat down. Sitting quietly, he appeared lost in deep thought. The messages that had appeared on the laptop screen kept replaying in his mind. The laptop bag was placed right on the table in front, as if it had been rejected. He remained like that for almost an hour. Around ten o’clock, other colleagues arrived. One colleague greeted him, “Good morning, sir.” Professor Kumar glanced at him briefly but quickly looked away without saying anything. His face was expressionless. After a long time of thinking, he suddenly got up and went toward the lab. Inside the lab, he took out the laptop from his bag. He looked at it for a while, then suddenly removed the detector attached to it and threw it on the ground. The detector broke into pieces. He then switched on the laptop and started working on it. About an hour later, Ramesh entered the room. Seeing the broken detector, he asked, “Sir, what happened to this?”
Professor Kumar said, “I broke it. May be there’s no need for it anymore. Now I will try to create a device that can remove distortions like jealousy, hatred, greed, anger, ego from the human mind and instead instill love, contentment, brotherhood, respect, and so on.” Professor Kumar is still working in the lab. May God grant him success.
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