Tuva or Bust, Mr Feynman?
I googled myself today and I am ashamed to admit it. But wait. I have a very good reason for it. I was trying to see if the Mr Children website has gathered enough hits. Turned out, it was linked by this girl in her lycos website and it was listed at #40 or something. Sweet.
Then I came across this comment:
"I have been reading and rereading the contributions to this site for two years, and now would like to add my own comments. It is completely obvious that the spirit of Richard Feynman has been well-absorbed and expressed by all the contributors, but for me, the most evocative comments have come from Winang Asmara, Emily Hickey, Rafizah Amran, Stas Vonog, and Jennifer Kallmeyer. I hope that many, many more people will come to know the value of understanding and appreciating the character of Feynman."
Yes, that’s my name. Right over there. The one that’s in bold.
This piece that I wrote is my tribute to Mr Feynman. When I was in my 2nd year in university, I watched a documentary about him one late night after watching X-Files and crying like I knew him personally. Even the manner of his death, while painful, was extraordinary. Just like him.
I used to keep his quotes in a little note book that I carry around to remind me that it is okay to go against the grain. It has been 16 years since I first read his book. Till today, he’s still one of the people in my list of people that I’d like to invite to dinner. Obviously it is strange to feel so much adoration, admiration and respect for a dead guy whom you’ve never met. But for me Feynman remains, and always will be, an inspiration.
A THANK YOU FOR MR FEYNMAN
A lot of people discovered Feynman for various reasons. I discovered him out of vanity. I was studying in a boarding school and had to endure a six-hour train ride each time I went back to school after the holidays. I was always tired and anti-social during these rides because the train would be jam-packed with people. And if I was unlucky enough, I would have to stand during the most part of the journey.
So to kill my time (since I would be too irritated with everything to start small talks with my fellow passengers), I always have a book in my hand. Now, being a vain 16-year old, I would rather die than being caught with a romance novel. And so, in my quest to appear like a sophisticated genius, I grabbed (more like stole actually) Surely You’re Joking from my brother’s pile of books and pretended to read. As I didn’t want to look like a fake, I started reading right from the middle (if I started right from the beginning people would know I was just pretending to be a sophisticated genius!!). Less than five minutes later I regretted my vanity and started the book from page one.
I am no physicist and would probably never be one, but I guess you don’t have to be a sophisticated genius to appreciate Feynman. Ten years later, I still find myself amazed and in awe of this extraordinary human being, who single-handedly proved that you can be everything that you want to be if you put your heart and soul to it.
It is amazing how much you can learn from this incredible man, but if I have to choose one it would be the one where Feynman openly declared … What the hell do I have to care about what other people think. What else can I say but thank you. Wherever you are, thank you.
~ 1998 @ (www.fotuva.org/online/guestbook.htm )
