" Mother, what's a 'dull boy'?"
" It means a foolish boy."
" And what is ' not normal'?
" Someone who is an eccentric. But why are you asking all these silly questions, Thomas? Where did you hear these words?" the mother asked, perplexed.
" These are the words the school Principal used for me, Mother", replied the lad.

His mother was amazed and affronted. " How dare he use such words for my son", she exclaimed indignantly. " I'll go and talk to him." And the very next the day, Thomas's mother accompanied him to school. She charged the Principal with treating the boys very harshly. Her parting shot to him was, " Wait and see. One day, my son will become renowned all through the world but no one will ever hear of you!" Her prediction about her son, Thomas Alva Edison, didn't come true at once, but there did come a day when the entire world got to know him.

Edison was born on 11 February 1847, in the United States of America. Right from his childhood, he had an insatiable curiosity. What is this, why did that happen, were questions that always intrigued him. He would experiment with every little thing in order to find out more about it. At the time of this incident, Edison was ten years old. One adverse effect of his mother losing her temper at the Principal was that young Edison was promptly expelled from school. Now the burden of educating him fell on his mother, who was a teacher herself.

By dint of his grit and determination, the boy went up swiftly on the rungs of the ladder of success. He opened a laboratory in the basement of his home. By the time he was fifteen, he realized that carrying out experiments was an expensive hobby and he needed money for it. So he took up a vendor's job in the Grand Trunk Railways and began selling newspaper, toffees and other items to earn money. In his free time, he would visit the public library and study books of Science. He thus learnt about the latest inventions. Gradually, he opened a moving laboratory on the train itself.

When war broke out between North and South Africa, in 1861, Edison realized that people would be very keen for news of the war. He decided to launch a newspaper that would cater to the demands of the passengers. As luck would have it, he chanced upon an old printing machine, which he installed, on the train. He would compose the news, edit it himself and then print it. He named this paper-Grand Trunk Herald-and it became immensely popular. Four hundred copies of it were sold every day. This had the distinction of being the first newspaper that was printed on a train! London's Times praised this newspaper wholeheartedly.

One day, Edison missed the train and he ran after it to board it. The train had picked up speed and it would've been dangerous to try to board it, so a railway worker caught hold of both his ears and pulled Edison back, to prevent him from getting hurt. Edison's life was saved but gradually, he lost his sense of hearing, till, finally, he became fully deaf.

During those days, another significant incident occurred. A little boy was playing near the railway tracks, right next to the stationmaster's cabin. Just then, a train came. All the onlookers were terrified as they saw certain death inch its way towards the little fellow, playing happily. No one dared to move. However, Edison sprang up and, risking his own life, ran and picked up the child He saved his life and everyone applauded his courage. When the stationmaster heard what had happened, he came to Edison and asked him how he could ever thank him for having prevented such a big tragedy. Edison replied, " I want to learn telegraphy. Can you teach me?"

The stationmaster accepted his proposal and very soon, Edison learned his work. He got the job of a telegraph operator at the station. But he was not satisfied; he wanted to invent his own telegraph machine. So he decided to go to New York, where he was told, there was much better scope for his work. He opened a lab in New Jersey and started working in right earnest. In 1877, he invented the Gramophone. This instrument was operated manually and the voice was recorded on a cylinder. Do you know what were the first words recorded by Edison? They were the opening lines of ' Mary had a little lamb.'

He didn't stop with just this invention. One day, he noticed that a wick, when kept inside a glass bowl, burns for forty hours, emitting bright light. That gave him the germ of an idea and he devised the incandescent bulb, which became an instant hit in the market. To maintain the flow of electricity, Edison even designed the dynamo. His ideas resulted in the setting up of a central powerhouse. On New Year's Eve that year, the entire city was lit up with bulbs. It was a sight that created a sensation amongst the public.

He opened another lab in 1887. The foundation of the typewriter was made here. He also devised the movie camera. Edison worked for at least eighteen to nineteen hours every day. But he did not neglect his food and had regular sleeping hours. He attributed his success to the fact that there was no clock in his room!

One thing he believed in firmly, was patience. According to Edison, if you are patient and determined, you will be able to achieve whatever you want. He was never discouraged by failure. Once, his lab and factory caught fire. Goods worth thousands of dollars were destroyed. Unperturbed, the only thing that Edison said was that it was good that their mistakes had burnt don; now they could start afresh. This incident tells us a great deal about his courage. The best example that we get of his undaunted spirit is when we remember that he was fully deaf, yet he made so many inventions. In the year 1915, Thomas Edison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

He said his mother was the main inspiration of his life and that he never wanted to disappoint her. She was the moving spirit behind all his achievements and he attributed them all to her blessings.

To his dying day, Edison continued to work. His country is proud of his numerous inventions. He died on 18 October 1931, but he lives on through his wonderful inventions.