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The Doppler Effect

It was a long time ago, during a period which I remember distinctly and vividly as my best academic learning experience. I am talking about the time that I spent burning night lamps in Kota. It was the same old classroom, that creaky moribund chair, and that isolated corner where I preferred to sit. I usually found physics very interesting but somehow I was not able to connect with what was being taught that day. So, I kept staring outside the windows, looking for anything that could interest me. The chapter being taught was waves and the topic was ‘The Doppler Effect.’ Today as I reflect upon that lecture, I realize that life has its own funny ways to teach you lessons which you never care about.

Life! What is that which we do most consistently in otherwise random life? We go places, meet people and build relationships. Some bonds keep becoming stronger and we hold on tight to them; some weak “not meant to happen” ones, we let go. Like a doctor diagnosing a disease, we diagnose our lives to try to look for any symptoms which can tell us the health of a relationship. We look for a change, a shift in any of the constants of a relationship. The nature of the change then tells us, if a relationship is becoming sweet or turning sour. We too shift our behavior according to the situation we are in. A frown in front of our bosses makes way for a warm smile in front of the girl who we admire. Ironically, change is thus the only constant in life.

Cut to The Doppler Effect. The definition which I did not listen in my physics class that day goes like this, “By observing a shift in the frequency of light coming from a source, it can be predicted if the source is moving away, stationary, or coming closer.” Today, after so many years, I can not help but acknowledge that I have already been taught this lesson by the most accomplished teacher that has ever been; life! Is it not the similar behavior which you and I experience in our relationships? We look for the shift and predict its future. Change is what we are left with. Change is what remains constant. Change is “The Doppler Effect.”

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