Big and Small

The question popped late one night during bed time, “Mumma, which is the small-e-est living thing?”

Being his Mumma for five years now I could quite habitually understand that he intended to know nothing but the truth. No fantastic creatures, no imaginary tales because this was a serious question being asked.

So I said, “It has to be some micro-organism.”

“What is that?”

“Something that you cannot see, but it is still present.” I elaborated, “A kind of a creature that lives and moves and eats and has babies, but is so, so, so tiny that you cannot see it the way you see me.”

“Hmm,” he murmured. After a little thought though he said again, “But I can see them.” Excitedly he twisted on the bed to face me. “Really?” I asked with genuine interest.

“Yes,” he replied. “See, when I am sitting on the couch in the morning, light comes from the window. I can see tiny, very tiny, the tiniest of ball like things floating in the air. Aren’t they mico-ogani sm?”

Stifling my laughter I corrected him, “M-I-C-R-O O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M-S, but what you see are not microorganisms. They are just minute dust particles.” Not crushing his enthusiasm entirely I also added, “There might surely be microorganisms around, but as I said, they are so tiny, you can never ‘see’ them just like that. You need to have a very powerful microscope.”

“Let me show you,” I said raising my hand and showing him the palm. “At this minute, I have at least 500 bacteria here.” “Bacteria are micro-organisms?” he asked. “Yes, they are.”

“Are they the tiniest living things?” he asked again.

 “Yes, one of the tiniest; there are others like virus and fungi too.”

 The sleepy eyes were struggling to shut down. So, I planted a kiss on his forehead and said, “We can talk more about microorganisms tomorrow. Now, sleep, alright? Good Night.” Reluctantly the eyes closed and soon took him to the land of dreams.

“Mumma,” he shouted the next morning while taking his shower. “Didn’t you tell me that the blue whale is the biggest animal in the world?”

I said yes, rushing to grab a towel as he came out dripping. But the little curious head was more interested in getting his science right. He ignored the puddle he was creating and continued excitedly, “You also told me that a blue whale is equal to at least 10 to 15 elephants.”

“Hmm,” I said, the mother’s dextrous hand working furiously to dry his hair.

“Okay, so blue whale is the biggest, and bacteria the smallest. If 500 bacteria can cover just my palm, can you just imagine how many bacteria can cover an entire blue whale!” he said his eyes sparkling with the newly made discovery.

I paused and tried to imagine the analogy he had just made – a simple statement and yet so fascinating.

“Millions, and trillions..zillions..killions..hillions…” he went on and on with a bemused grin on his face.

I smiled at him, gently stroking his hair, giving an affectionate peck on the cheek.

Thomas Huxley had once said - The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity.

With a silent prayer to let him carry this same spirit all his life, I said out loud, “Come, get ready fast, then I will show you some bacteria pictures.”

(Winner of the My Science Story blogfest by Tulika Publishers)