A short story written years ago

Have you seen the movie 2012?
It reminded me of a story I had written long ago in college.
I had to re-write it because I lost the original write-up. Hope you enjoy it..

The interview

I landed in Bangalore bright and early that Monday morning. The weather in Bangalore is pleasant for most part of the year, and today was no exception. I had checked and double checked my Dictaphone, Digital Camera, Tripod and other equipment.

For today was not an ordinary day, today I was to meet Dr. Rao, the brilliant Nobel prize winning scientist who had recently made the headlines with his path breaking research on “Man versus Nature”. He also led a world class research organization operating from Bangalore which is called the “Asylum”, which was supposed to be directed at the fact that they come up with critical scientific and environmental issues which the world political leadership always seems to be in denial about. And this was his first exclusive interview to the media, and thanks to my fledgling career in teaching physics, prior to taking up reporting full time, I was deemed to be the lucky one to interview him.
A reporter as I was, the only thing I could afford was the modest auto-rickshaw, and I hailed one as soon as I got my luggage and made my way past the usual welcoming committee from the neighborhood clothes mega store who put their best marketing foot forward by gifting the bleary eyed passengers with red roses, hoping that in return they would empty their pockets in their store.

As I made my way through the crisp morning air, I decided to rehearse my questions. I had read all that I could find about Dr. Rao, and believe me there were several stories about him. There was one about how, when demonstrating a highly efficient engine his team had developed to an international group of scientists, a small but sharp piece of equipment had come loose and fell right on his feet. Although in searing pain, Dr. Rao did not budge an inch until the whole demonstration was over and the scientists left the lab completely blown away with this new invention. Only then did he collapse, thereon to be taken to the hospital for a surgery and a long recovery phase thereafter. Such stories showed his immense commitment to his work.
He was housed in a new research lab, I had been told, which was supposed to be the next power house of Physics and Astrophysics. I was pretty excited to rekindle my rusty scientific temper. And here I was, I could barely remember the difference between velocity and acceleration. It was all such a blur now.
The rickshaw made its final turn into the drive way of the research institution, as I pondered over the sequence of interrogation. I was quite amused by the fact that the building had been architected in the shape of a space-craft, thinking about the millions of rupees of tax payers money that could have gone into its construction. I stepped out of the rickshaw and barely missed getting run down by a huge food truck that was making its way out of the driveway. And I said to myself, I guess even Nobel prize winners need to eat once in a way. I was quickly ushered by the receptionist towards Dr. Rao’s office.
The introductions were quite warm, literally too with some nice hot filter coffee to go with them. The scientist himself was quite an anti-thesis to the usual image of a scientist we always have. He was in his early forties, tall and thin, with a suave crew cut. He was quite friendly and very articulate, much to my pleasant surprise. As I setup my equipment he played around with some of it himself, I attributed this to his insatiable curiosity that probably got him to the heights he had risen to in the world of science.
And after the pleasantries, finally the interview began,
Question: Dr. Rao, welcome to News Media TV. Congratulations, how does it feel to be a Nobel laureate?

Dr. Rao: Well, I feel proud that after so many years, I could bring the Nobel Prize to India. I feel we have made tremendous contributions to mathematics and science, but may not have received due recognition. We merely stand on the shoulders of giants.

Question: Your research in the area of global warming has been much debated. It is known that (he had got the Nobel Prize for this) you have developed a algorithm that can highly accurately predict and report world weather up until a full year into the future. This can help us plan things such as our agriculture a lot better and also forewarns us against the impending threat of global warming

Dr. Rao: I feel that my goal is to inform people of the reality of the threat, contrary to what is fed to the common man through magazines and television. We have already lost millions of square miles of forest land and also thousands kilometers of coast line due to the rise of water levels in the past years and if we proceed this way, I think in fifty years we will have to take up a marine existence.
Question: What about the controversial statement you made about energy?

Dr. Rao: Statistics show that man, especially developed countries, are fast using up their supply of usable fuel, and if man does not come up with alternative energy sources, then we will find ourselves with no viable sources of energy by the turn of this century. That may now seem like a long way out, but it is really just two to three more generations. Have you read the story of the goose that laid golden eggs?
Question: Your research into deforestation is also humbling.

Dr. Rao: Well, it does not take a scientist to predict this. What I did is to take the rate at which forests are vanishing and project it into the future as accurately as we scientifically can, and this comes up with interesting facts which are hardly refutable, because they are backed up by reliable calculations. Would you believe it if I told you that there would be no such things as trees in the world beyond 2250?
Question: You have also done a lot of work on the nuclear threat. We have all recently read about certain types of satellites (rorsats), which many countries are using to pack off tons of nuclear waste into space, the “final dump yard”. Is this not a pretty risky thing to do? Now, my knowledge of physics is limited, but what happens if say two of these satellites, however distant their orbits are planned to be from each other, bang against each other. Would that not be the end of the world as we know it?

Dr. Rao: Well, I cannot agree with you more on this. It is a viable threat and my friend you could not have been closer to the truth. We, at this installation, have been planning and preparing for such a threat for years now. In fact, I need to tell you this, it just happened a few minutes ago at 09:43 hours..

I quickly glanced at my watch and saw the digits 10:00 flashing into my eyes.
In the silence that followed, I could faintly decipher a constant hum, which I had conveniently neglected in the excitement of the interview.
Suddenly, the impact of what the scientist had said dawned on me, and I rushed to the window, only to be welcomed by the vast emptiness of space looking back at me.