In Chapter 73, Claudine meets up with Ravi, a grad student at MIT. Ravi is a computer geek and much of the detail here is from my time teaching in Portland, OR. with high school students. I ran a computer class and one of my students was very clever indeed. Ravi is a projected image of this student, mixed with my time in Sri Lanka. In terms of MUTINY this is a chapter that pauses the action and provides detail that will surface later in an unexpected way. Meanwhile, sit back – relax – and let the moment at MIT soak in…
[They continued chatting as they walked through Killian Court and down a path towards the Charles River.
“Look,” exclaimed Ravi. A rowing eight moved like an arrow, their oars dipping in unison, smooth and composed, blade tips flashing white. The hull lifted as the blades gripped the water, then settled back when the oars came up for air.
“Beautiful and mathematical…so much elliptical rhythm…a sport in poetic motion,” muttered Ravi, his eyes following every stroke. He was working on a formula for the loci of the blades – interlocked and flattened ellipses?
Claudine interrupted. “What’s on your mind?” she asked, as the skiff vanished around a bend downstream.
“I was watching the rowers and it reminded me of a book I read, called ‘Boys in the Boat’.”
“I don’t understand?
“The story is a true story about a ragtag rowing crew from the University of Washington. The young boys were mainly farmers and had never been in a skiff before. After long hours of training, they discover a place where their rowing is almost effortless, reaching a place of beauty and fluid motion that transcends effort. They grow into an unbeatable Olympic team with each rower working in unison with the other. The boat responds by seemingly flying along and defying the water resistance.”
“Do you know,” said Claudine, with her arm on his, “that I also dream to have a team working for me like that one day.”
“I’m sure you will,” he replied. “What work do you do?”
“Oh, just film and underwater cinematography. We’re a small company based in Trieste.”
Ravi laughed. “I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t come all this way to talk about movies.”
She paused and watched the rowers for a while, unsure what to say. When she did, it was, “Why MIT, Ravi?”
He remembered the day as vividly as the question; a warm, fall day with crumpled leaves splashed across the campus lawns, and the institute’s pale dome appearing to be on fire in the New England sunset. It was a day that seemed to stand still, lost in a space-time vacuum, until it was broken by her voice.
“Why MIT?” she repeated.]
Why indeed. I suggest you invest in MUTINY to discover the answer for yourself.