When referring to a person, the young professor forgot the name of the person.
No matter how hard he tried, he just could not get back to the name.
A brief moment passed.
The students leaned forward.
Some found it funny, some found it relatable, while others waited with bated breath as they were really interested in the name even if they weren’t interested in what they said, now that the professor happened to forget it.
A minute later the professor gave up.
He mumbled an apology to the class and then his ego swelled up and he negated that the name of the man was as important as his teaching.
“Class, I know I have missed the name, I currently do not recount it but then I must say, his name is not that important as is his teaching which I surely remember and will tell you next” and he went closer to the illuminated device to flip the screen for it.
That man who wrote that lesson was also a part of the class sitting behind all, eagerly waiting to see how the young generation referred to him or addressed him, and his teaching.
But when the professor forgot his name, he got so irated that he went off to the illuminated device and scraped off the page where the professor had neatly written the message but without his name.
He had thought he would remember the name but had not been successful in doing so.
When the professor went to his system he was baffled. Just a few seconds back he had seen it to be there but now he wasn’t able to trace it. Shame took over as the professor sheepishly called out at his most trusted student to fix the issue.
He whispered to him in his ears and then shifted apart and began telling some in- between stories.
The student was also baffled by the suddenness of the situation but he knew something that the old spirit didn’t know.
He pressed the undo button and lo! the whole thing was there again.
Quite pleased with himself he found out that his teacher didn’t know that if someone did not press the save button they can always undo it and even though the professor seemed to be a young man to the student, he was definitely not the smartest, the student thought to himself.
Upon seeing the screen flashing the message, the teacher was as much elated as much irated the soul was now feeling.
“These useless devices” the soul thought.
“I spent my whole life trying to work on this postulate and this young man just made a fool of me in no time.”
He decided to scare the professor at night.
As soon as the professor settled on his chair after his last meal he could see the apparition right opposite to him on the opposite chair.
But he didn’t look like an apparition then but more like a man.
This unsettled the professor for a while though he hoped by gauging his look and age the man might not turn out to be harmful at all.
“Who are you?”
The apparition figure smiled, “you happened to forget my name while taking the class I presume.”
“Your name?” Slightly startled he snorted and began again, “well wait, you are the famous person who gave the postulate.”
“Yes, why do you doubt? Have you not seen my picture?”
The professor smiled and nodded.
“You got hurt, is it?”
“Yes, you see. I have lived and formulated my whole life to understand what works and what doesn’t and I would expect gratitude and respect for that at least.” He was anticipating a positive reply.
“Look at the world. People multiply roughly every 25 years which means in a century you have 4 generations from the same family. By the beginning of the next century the previous ones are quite forgotten considering if an entire family line manages to survive all the challenges of that particular period. There is famine, flood, avalanches, tsunami, climate changes, meteorites, and if not those, wars, backstabbing, killing due to jealousy, competition and selfishness and greed to kill people apart from diseases. Do you think you could survive 15 generations just with your name under that postulate?”
“Is it so bad now?” The apparition was appalled by the crisis on the human race he was being narrated to.
“Yes, your genes would barely remember you for 150 years, approx 6 generations post which you will just be a darkness on the wall. Consider yourself lucky that your name alone was enough to make you survive all these years.”
Feeling shame was something the ghost had not known all these years and while he slipped off in deep thoughts he disappeared while the professor went back to his book like nothing ever existed before him.
Snehashree is a content creator by profession and writer by passion. She is a storyteller, poet, and abstract artist besides being a content writer. She has published her works of poetry on Amazon and several online magazines. She moved into full time writing after spending a few years in the healthcare industry. A solivagant and an ardent animal lover, she regularly crafts interesting articles for her blog - TST.
When not writing, she can be found reciting poetries in poetry clubs, teaching kids the art of poetry, and reading avidly. You could visit her website and chat with her on Instagram.
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