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THE LEGACY OF INVENTIONS

Kamlesh Tripathi

       Scientists and inventors may create something with good intentions. But depraved minds may commandeer it for nefarious motives. Truly speaking, inventions do leave an indelible legacy behind, where some may turn out to be serenades of life, and some the hounding baggage difficult to carry.

    Scottish physician and microbiologist Alexander Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin was later developed into an antibiotic to kill bacteria. It has since then saved many lives. Fleming therefore must have left the world with pleasant memories of his invention.

    Alfred Nobel invented ‘dynamite’, a high-power explosive that ravaged humanity. He made a fortune out of that. But it was only during his lifetime that he realised that the invention of dynamite was a great threat to humanity. He later bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prize for Excellence.

    Conversely, Eadweard Muybridge, often called the ‘father of the motion picture’, left the world with glorious recollections. This isn’t the case with General Mikhail Kalashnikov, the creator of the AK-47 assault rifle, though it was designed for the defence of his country. He was an author and a poet too. Later, he rose to become a general with innovative attributes, but his inventions appear to be for the wrong causes. Kalashnikov maintained that his rifle was an ‘armament for defence and not a weapon of offence.’ Yet, numerous killings have taken place with this invention.

    Kalashnikov claimed he was always motivated more by service to the nation than money. But the rifle that was once good for the nation was used by terrorists in illegal and dreadful killings. In the final years of his life, he was saddened by the awful responsibility for the millions of deaths that his invention had caused, as per his published letter to the head of the Russian Church. Kalashnikov died at the age of 94. In his interviews, he insisted that he created the AK-47 assault rifle only to protect his country, and rejected responsibility for killings perpetrated by zealots and terrorists using his weapon.

    Kalashnikov didn’t have a simple life. In his old age, he was troubled to learn that his rifle was used for evil acts, even though he knew that his weapons were also used to destroy adversaries and defend his motherland. In order to find peace, like Alfred Nobel and Oppenheimer, Kalashnikov too retired to a quiet life in the hope of experiencing a godly touch sometime and somewhere before his death. To seek pardon, he wrote a letter to the head of the Russian Church, saying:

    “My soul’s ache is unbearable and has irresolvable questions: If my rifle took lives, does it mean that I, Mikhail Kalashnikov, aged 93, a peasant woman’s son, an Orthodox Christian in faith, am guilty of those people’s deaths, even if they were enemies?”

    Kalashnikov spent a major part of his life as an atheist in an atheist country. Only at the age of 91 did he feel the call of faith and answered it. As he was approaching the end of his life, doubts entered his mind that his invention gave a chance to millions of miscreants … to butcher innocents.

    Surely, inventions do leave a legacy behind. Some legacies are insurmountable for the soul to carry through. But sadly, the inventor only realises that when it’s too late in life.

    The story remains incomplete without knowing what Oppenheimer felt after the atomic bombs exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did he feel exalted or miserable? Only he’d be able to tell. But of course, the sting of karma does follow you beyond the frontiers of your present life.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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