The lecturer wrote in large bold letters “Lebesgue Dominated Convergence Theorem” on the board. He then went on to fill the board with dxs, dks, integrals, tildes, hats, fs and gs. In the distance I heard a speeding train – faint at first, but gradually becoming louder and louder until it drowned the instructor’s soft words. I heard the metallic clanking – clickety-clack, clickety-clack – and the hoot-hoot along with the unyielding chug-chug. Then the guard’s shrill whistle followed by an ear-splitting screeching of the brakes as the train came to a halt at the station. Vendors scrambled to jump onto the train with their baskets, some containing refreshingly cold drinks, some containing hot spicy samosas and some containing books of all kinds. Porters in their faded red shirts hustled past each other to grab attention of potential customers. The musical voice of a lady speaking on the announcement system continued to repeat the name of the trains and their designated platform numbers. “Ding, ding, ding. May I have your attention please? Train number 22811 Bhubaneswar to New Delhi Rajdhani Express will be shortly arriving on Platform number 4. Ding, ding, ding.”
“Is it all clear?” the instructor asked. He had completed his proof of the Lebesgue Dominated Convergence Theorem. I looked down at my notebook, which was the verbatim copy of his squiggles on the board. Word-to-word. dx-to-dx. f-to-f, and g-to-g. I had even copied the stray lines he drew on one corner to get rid of the yellowish coating on the chalk.
Sitting at the very front of a small classroom, I nodded “yes”, and proceeded to pack my bag.