The Truth Chamber

It was a particularly humid day at Johnson Grammar School and the 21 students of the International Baccalaureate program were complaining about it as they went about cleaning the classes after school hours. This school had a unique custom to make its students more responsible by making them take care of the classes and keeping them stocked. This was facilitated by each class having a president, a vice president and three committee members who were answerable for the class.

 As the clock struck 6, as the shadows loomed large, a shrill low pitch noise was heard from a corner of the class. This piqued the curiosity of everyone in the class and they all moved towards that corner. As they were advancing, the sound suddenly changed its tone from a low pitch to a deafening high pitch series of squeaks forcing everyone to cover their ears and at that instant the doors bolted shut, the windows suddenly went dark and everyone was left in pitch darkness. All the students immediately started screaming at the top of their voices and banging at the doors and windows hoping to find a way to escape, a few of the girls huddled together weeping and asking to be able to go home. A few others tried to use the benches to get to the ventilator but even that was shut tight. They were stuck!

After half an hour of hysterical wailing and screaming, the students had settled down to their fate and decided to wait and hope for a rescue from the outside. Suddenly, a eerie yellow light filled the room, it was coming from the corner where the noise had come from earlier, then, as they watched a throbbing globule of light floated into the air in front of their eyes and a metallic voice came from within “Welcome to the Truth Chamber, only those among you who can pass the challenges without lying shall survive”

Musings of a stargazer

The night skies, vast in its size, magnificent in its vastness, haunting in its magnificence is a sight that sends people into a trance to learn as much as they can about it and has been doing so since ages untold. The mysteries and stories of the stars transcend all boundaries and unite the sentient across the entire planet, across ages and for all we know, across galaxies. Its influence on mankind far exceed the technological advances made to try to unravel its mystery, it provokes us to think on a far more basal and philosophical note than most other stimuli.

As i gaze into the far reaches of space lying on the lawns in front of a temple, looking at the stars blinking at me and wondering at the message they wish to convey. I wonder how many people have looked up at this very same sky in search of answers, filled with hopes or in desperation. The sky is filled with patterns of stars, not constellations, but ones made by my own mind searching for sense among them. Everyday worries and thoughts ebb away from my conscience and a sense of calm and contemplation take their place. The actions of one person in this vast universe among billions of other people on a rocky planet far out in space seem inconsequential and meager at the sight of the majesty that surrounds us.