The sun cast its torrid spells on May. The leaves of the roadside trees, once welcoming, left sadistic remarks with their nodes bent down. The water bodies weren’t spared too, but somewhere among the hilly terrains adjacent to a bustling city, the bomb of excitement was awaiting to burst.

It was mid noon. The big bell of the Titan International School rang harsh. The chime echoed for a while, and the students dispersed themselves swiftly like an army of wood ants activated for a mission.

The summer break rolled off. Tanu, a 6th grade student, subjected his flashy red bicycle to the top gear, sped through the bumpy road, reached the home, and banged hard on the door.

Simi, his mother opened the door. Without maintaining the eye contact with his mother, Tanu landed on the sofa like a falling meteor. A bust of joy filled the drawing room. “Hurrah! Holiday for a month- so much exciting,” Tanu exulted

“What’s next?” asked Simi, holding a cooking spatula in hand. Tanu’s eyes froze while he saw the steaming spatula. At first, he developed fear as he thought of receiving some loud thrashes, but the opposite happened.

Simi noticed the reaction, went to the kitchen, placed the spatula on the worktable, came back, and sat beside her jumpy son. Her eyes spoke care with smile. “Tell me beta, what’s your plan for the summer vacation?” inquired Simi.

After experiencing some relief, Tanu answered, “Let’s visit grandpa’s house” “Sure” was the happy reciprocation from the other end.

The journey began the next day, on a train heading for Siliguri through dense green forest. The train reached the destination after some time. The duo reached the house on a cab. Soumen, the grandpa greeted his grandson and the daughter-in-law.

The colorful days attained new milestones – Tanu chasing butterflies in the garden, grandpa and grandson angling at the pristine water pond, munching savories most of the time to name a few.

One evening while the fireflies were making swirls outside the window of the living room, Tanu was busy completing his physics project.

The kind hearted Soumen dropped in. He sat beside Tanu and inquired about the subject. Tanu threw a volley of questions to his grandpa, regarding the chapter titled ‘Matter’. “Dadu, I can’t see molecules through my eyes. How do I ascertain they exist?”

“Ha ha dadubhai, you can’t see, but they exist. I can show you how……” assured the grandpa.

Soumen brought a transparent tumbler filled with water. He asked Tanu to measure the height of the water level by taking the help of a ruler. The grandpa added some salt and stirred until the salt dissolved completely.

Soumen asked Tanu to check the water level again. The grandson was amazed to note the development. The height of the water level remained unchanged.

The friendly grandpa explained, “Matter contains molecules, and molecules have spaces between them. The molecules of water also have spaces in between. When I added the salt, the molecules of the salt occupied the voids between water molecules. That’s why the height of the water level didn’t rise”

Tanu was satisfied with the answer delivered by his grandpa. He thanked Soumen heartily for conducting the experiment. By gathering new zeal, Tanu completed his science project.

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