NEWTON Dutt is not proud of his name because it often puts him in trouble. His high school teachers, thinking him to be having at least some intelligence of the famous scientist whose name he had taken, always used to ask him to solve problems on the blackboard. That he was never able to solve even one, did not stop them from bothering him. After having grown up, he has now acquired the looks of a professor, which has added to his troubles. People mistake him to be a scientist.

Just when he is about to put up an armchair and sink in it, Bhaskar Acharya, his friend drops in. He is an assistant director in a film unit. "Newton Da, we are shooting today in MK Studios, why don’t you spend the day with me there," says Bhaskar. "Who is the actor?" says Newton. "Utpal Dutt; and Satyajit Ray is directing."

At the studios, Bhaskar introduces Newton to his unit and the famous, famous director. "Bhaskar, where have you been and where is the actor for the role of a mathematics professor I asked you to find," says Satyajit Ray, Manek Da to his crew. "Don’t worry Manek Da, my friend Newton Dutt is the person you are looking for; he is a professor of mathematics," says Bhaskar and signals Newton to keep quiet. "Well, give him the script and tell him about those tricky lines," says Ray.

In a corner of the studios, Newton and his friend are fighting. "Bhaskar, you trickster, you know that I cannot act." "Newton Da, I know, but you’ll have to help me save my job. Do it for me, and I will forget those Rs 1,000 I gave you." "Whatever you say, Bhaskar, but just once." "Thanks Dada; there’s just one more thing. Manek Da wants you to innovate at one point of the script where some lines are missing. The professor that you are going to play has to give Utpal Dutt the answer to a question that he poses. These are just a few words, but the part is so difficult that no actor is ready to do it. Just say anything and no one will ever know. People will remember you for this role. The camera gets ready in four hours."

Netown rehearses his lines and, as he reads, he tries to acquire the character of a learned man. Then, it is time to shoot and Manek Da calls "action". Mohan Babu (played by Utpal Dutt): "Professor, what is the smallest integer greater than 0 that can be written entirely with zeros and ones and is evenly divisible by 225?" Newton: "It is 11111111100, my friend," "Cut," says Ray, "Professor, keep the answer short if you don’t know." "It is the right answer, Sir," says Newton, then, goes on to prove it. "Bravo!" says Utpal Dutt. "Expectations have taught me to be prepared," says Newton. How did he prove that? Write at Mind Games, Windows, The Tribune, or adityarishi99@yahoo.co.in.

— Aditya Rishi