I watched my daughter drawing out the Alimentary Canal in her science notebook. She drew a bit of what should have been the head... (hopefully!), got the eraser out and rubbed it off, drew some more, erased more, made one more attempt to get the curve of the head right....only to be erased again!
There was growing frustration and I could sense it. The paper had lost its sheen. Several unsuccessful heads...lay etched to the paper surface...in concentric patterns. Any attempt to erase them off would have left a hole in the paper. Already, the bright picture of the previous page, could be seen peeping through. The page was just about holding up, tenuously, threatening to give off any moment!
Nothing seemed to have changed over the years! We may not have those dull looking, grey "sandow" erasers anymore. They have been replaced with other erasers, more elegant and fragrant. But the eraser's job was still the same- it never erased the pencil marks. It simply removed that layer of paper!
And yes, drawing the Alimentary Canal was just as complicated. I was hoping that with the passage of time, it would perhaps have fewer parts, but no such luck!
I left my daughter make one last attempt to get the Alimentary Canal right. The precarious condition of the paper allowed just that. It was exactly like tight rope walking- you can't afford to make one mistake, not one use of the eraser. You had to get the whole thing right....in a single, unbroken swish of the pencil! Surprisingly, she got it right this time....almost!
Drawing the Alimentary Canal isn't elementary, by any stretch of imagination! There are two broad schools of thought when it comes to drawing the Alimentary Canal- first, sketch the basic outline of the human body and then fit the organs in it. The second is to draw all the organs out...and round it off with the outline of the human body. We have no idea in what order God fabricates this blessed thing- both seem equally challenging and impossible.
If you manage to get the outline right, there is an overwhelming sense of accomplishment all right, but it lasts only till you start drawing the organs out. There is just a bewildering number of items to be fitted. By the time, you come to the end of the body, where the inverted V of the legs touch the trunk, you figure out that you've drawn only the stomach and the liver! You have the entire folds of the intestine, both the small and the large... to now be fitted. It's like reaching Lands-end...there isn't space any more; you simply have to jump over the cliff! You curse yourself for drawing the gullet so long....so that it has sagged right upto the lower abdomen leading to this space crunch!
Fixing this problem is no easy task. The next attempt is worse in execution. Now, everything is bunched up to the top. The gullet ends at the throat, the stomach at the chest and by the time you finish small and large intestine, you're still at the torso! You're left with the rectum or anus or whatever that organ is...and still have miles to go...before you can go! You murmur an audible what the hell to yourself and with contempt, extend the rectum all the way to lands-end till it starts resembling the gullet both in its shape and length! It doesn't look right anymore and everything has to be erased. In the process, you've erased the outline of the Mona Lisa...the only part that you got right...and can't redraw even that!
You abandon Plan A and move to Plan B. Plan B definitely looks like a better idea. You take your own time and space to draw all the organs out and simply have to draw the body contours in keeping with the organs. It seems such an intuitive method and you kick yourself for not using this approach earlier. After an hour of feverish work, you've got it all right- the esophagus, the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the small intestine, the large...every thing drawn to a nicety.
Reality strikes when the outline has to be drawn. With the organs all far flung out, by the time you've penciled the body, it ain't a human being anymore, it starts rivaling a map of India! Even giving allowance for obese individuals, this isn't like anyone on this planet. The shoulders have to be extended so that arms can come down wide, the arms have to come down wide to fit the overly bloated stomach. The waist has to be wider because the intestines are sticking out...and by the time you come to the rectum and decide to the draw the legs, the page has come to a close! There's no room for the legs...and the drawing bears an uncanny resemblance to the digestive system in a tortoise! You have half a mind to write P.T.O. at the bottom of the page...and draw the legs possibly on the following page!!
I've often wondered why an Alimentary Canal needs an individual's face to be side-faced, I mean, it's always a profile. There's not a single Alimentary Canal out there, where an individual can have a straight face and still have an Alimentary Canal! It's like one of those pictures of Kapil Dev. I don't even know if he can stand straight. All the pictures show him completely twisted, with a bent knee and a bent elbow...half a feet above the ground...and eyeballs exploding from their sockets...as he looks over his shoulder....on the verge of delivering the ball!
Many years ago, we were at an Inter School Science Project. Our teacher was insistent that it should be a "working model" of the Alimentary Canal. We worked diligently over many weeks...struggling with thermocol and a heated knife, cardboard and fluorescent paint, staying up for many hours after school. Our handiwork was finally ready and we landed up at Amoolak Amichand School. (I can't get the spelling right, but it is close.) Our Science teacher hadn't had time to see the final creation. She would see the exhibit just like the chief guest....right at the venue!
It was the most gigantic Alimentary Canals ever made by mankind! By the time, we stitched all the thermocol pieces together, the gullet had to begin right at the ceiling. The rectum of course, was close to the floor. It was a brilliant effort. Adhir, Kumar and myself glowed with genuine pride as we surveyed the final product. A group of Auxilium Convent girls (who also had an exhibit in the same room) looked on in awe....and we hit the ceiling, just like our handicraft. The fluorescent paint made the whole thing simply leap out of the wall. It was a "working model". We snaked a transparent pipe all the way....tediously....from the mouth...through miles and miles of the digestive system...right till the rectum. The bucket was also ready. It had tasty juice, made with multiple packs of concentrated "Rasna" syrup...in a bright tinge of orange! Kumar managed a ladder somehow. He stood precariously perched...with his head hitting the ceiling...with a mug of Rasna juice in hand. Adhir squatted with the bucket.... at the rectum... all attentive. Miss Almeida looked on. The Rasna was poured into the mouth. We could see it moving through the multitude of body parts...till Adhir collected it at the bottom! And yes, you simply needed more mugfills to repeat the process.
If at all we had a difference of opinion, it was only about who would sit with the bucket. No one wanted to do the dirty job!! Occasionally, Kumar didn't pour it right...and drenched Adhir with a mugful of fresh Rasna, completely ruining the uniform.
I didn't have much to do. I looked at the Auxilium girls. They were laughing their guts out. I looked at Miss Almeida. I saw a grimace on her face....a pained expression.. you might say. She clearly wasn't impressed. I wonder why.
There was growing frustration and I could sense it. The paper had lost its sheen. Several unsuccessful heads...lay etched to the paper surface...in concentric patterns. Any attempt to erase them off would have left a hole in the paper. Already, the bright picture of the previous page, could be seen peeping through. The page was just about holding up, tenuously, threatening to give off any moment!
Nothing seemed to have changed over the years! We may not have those dull looking, grey "sandow" erasers anymore. They have been replaced with other erasers, more elegant and fragrant. But the eraser's job was still the same- it never erased the pencil marks. It simply removed that layer of paper!
And yes, drawing the Alimentary Canal was just as complicated. I was hoping that with the passage of time, it would perhaps have fewer parts, but no such luck!
I left my daughter make one last attempt to get the Alimentary Canal right. The precarious condition of the paper allowed just that. It was exactly like tight rope walking- you can't afford to make one mistake, not one use of the eraser. You had to get the whole thing right....in a single, unbroken swish of the pencil! Surprisingly, she got it right this time....almost!
Drawing the Alimentary Canal isn't elementary, by any stretch of imagination! There are two broad schools of thought when it comes to drawing the Alimentary Canal- first, sketch the basic outline of the human body and then fit the organs in it. The second is to draw all the organs out...and round it off with the outline of the human body. We have no idea in what order God fabricates this blessed thing- both seem equally challenging and impossible.
If you manage to get the outline right, there is an overwhelming sense of accomplishment all right, but it lasts only till you start drawing the organs out. There is just a bewildering number of items to be fitted. By the time, you come to the end of the body, where the inverted V of the legs touch the trunk, you figure out that you've drawn only the stomach and the liver! You have the entire folds of the intestine, both the small and the large... to now be fitted. It's like reaching Lands-end...there isn't space any more; you simply have to jump over the cliff! You curse yourself for drawing the gullet so long....so that it has sagged right upto the lower abdomen leading to this space crunch!
Fixing this problem is no easy task. The next attempt is worse in execution. Now, everything is bunched up to the top. The gullet ends at the throat, the stomach at the chest and by the time you finish small and large intestine, you're still at the torso! You're left with the rectum or anus or whatever that organ is...and still have miles to go...before you can go! You murmur an audible what the hell to yourself and with contempt, extend the rectum all the way to lands-end till it starts resembling the gullet both in its shape and length! It doesn't look right anymore and everything has to be erased. In the process, you've erased the outline of the Mona Lisa...the only part that you got right...and can't redraw even that!
You abandon Plan A and move to Plan B. Plan B definitely looks like a better idea. You take your own time and space to draw all the organs out and simply have to draw the body contours in keeping with the organs. It seems such an intuitive method and you kick yourself for not using this approach earlier. After an hour of feverish work, you've got it all right- the esophagus, the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the small intestine, the large...every thing drawn to a nicety.
Reality strikes when the outline has to be drawn. With the organs all far flung out, by the time you've penciled the body, it ain't a human being anymore, it starts rivaling a map of India! Even giving allowance for obese individuals, this isn't like anyone on this planet. The shoulders have to be extended so that arms can come down wide, the arms have to come down wide to fit the overly bloated stomach. The waist has to be wider because the intestines are sticking out...and by the time you come to the rectum and decide to the draw the legs, the page has come to a close! There's no room for the legs...and the drawing bears an uncanny resemblance to the digestive system in a tortoise! You have half a mind to write P.T.O. at the bottom of the page...and draw the legs possibly on the following page!!
I've often wondered why an Alimentary Canal needs an individual's face to be side-faced, I mean, it's always a profile. There's not a single Alimentary Canal out there, where an individual can have a straight face and still have an Alimentary Canal! It's like one of those pictures of Kapil Dev. I don't even know if he can stand straight. All the pictures show him completely twisted, with a bent knee and a bent elbow...half a feet above the ground...and eyeballs exploding from their sockets...as he looks over his shoulder....on the verge of delivering the ball!
Many years ago, we were at an Inter School Science Project. Our teacher was insistent that it should be a "working model" of the Alimentary Canal. We worked diligently over many weeks...struggling with thermocol and a heated knife, cardboard and fluorescent paint, staying up for many hours after school. Our handiwork was finally ready and we landed up at Amoolak Amichand School. (I can't get the spelling right, but it is close.) Our Science teacher hadn't had time to see the final creation. She would see the exhibit just like the chief guest....right at the venue!
It was the most gigantic Alimentary Canals ever made by mankind! By the time, we stitched all the thermocol pieces together, the gullet had to begin right at the ceiling. The rectum of course, was close to the floor. It was a brilliant effort. Adhir, Kumar and myself glowed with genuine pride as we surveyed the final product. A group of Auxilium Convent girls (who also had an exhibit in the same room) looked on in awe....and we hit the ceiling, just like our handicraft. The fluorescent paint made the whole thing simply leap out of the wall. It was a "working model". We snaked a transparent pipe all the way....tediously....from the mouth...through miles and miles of the digestive system...right till the rectum. The bucket was also ready. It had tasty juice, made with multiple packs of concentrated "Rasna" syrup...in a bright tinge of orange! Kumar managed a ladder somehow. He stood precariously perched...with his head hitting the ceiling...with a mug of Rasna juice in hand. Adhir squatted with the bucket.... at the rectum... all attentive. Miss Almeida looked on. The Rasna was poured into the mouth. We could see it moving through the multitude of body parts...till Adhir collected it at the bottom! And yes, you simply needed more mugfills to repeat the process.
If at all we had a difference of opinion, it was only about who would sit with the bucket. No one wanted to do the dirty job!! Occasionally, Kumar didn't pour it right...and drenched Adhir with a mugful of fresh Rasna, completely ruining the uniform.
I didn't have much to do. I looked at the Auxilium girls. They were laughing their guts out. I looked at Miss Almeida. I saw a grimace on her face....a pained expression.. you might say. She clearly wasn't impressed. I wonder why.
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