Random Thoughts

Prof. Kankan Bhattacharyya was an eminent scientist and I'm sure his students will tell you about all the ways he trained them to become scientists. However, my interactions with him and memories of him are more of  a personal nature. I first met him in February 2019 right after I joined IISER Bhopal to begin my independent research career. In the dining hall of the Visitors Hostel at IISER Bhopal, there was one person who was the loudest, constantly cracking jokes, teasing people and taking the conversation forward. I was introduced to him, i.e, Kankan Sir, by one of my colleagues there and he immediately involved me too in the ongoing conversation. He was that person who instantly made you feel at home. Every day following this first interaction was a joy as he was constantly the life of the dining hall. Everyone  used to be clustered around him. He was such an enthusiastic person and so full of life that it was infectious. He also, in his own way, constantly tried to motiva...

Someone recently asked me if I attend panel discussions or other meetings related to women's issues in science. And I replied that I don't. In fact I actively avoid it and decline the invitation even when someone specifically asks me to be on the panel. This got me thinking about why I don't like to attend these. After all, I do feel very strongly about equal participation of and opportunities for women in scientific research and other activities.  But somehow I don't feel like I am the right person to talk about or discuss serious issues, especially, at a public forum.  These forums are generally used to discuss serious issues. Many girls actually face a lot of difficulty in accessing higher education. There is generally a severe lack of opportunity for them and the few that are available require them to fight hard battles against their own families for them to have a chance. Considering this ground reality, I, on the other hand, am one of the privileged few who has ha...

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book reads like a story therefore making complex concepts simple and interesting. Dawkins establishes very early on that the genes today in all of our bodies are essentially just versions of the earliest replicators. The argument of why the gene is selfish and how every single behavior of every plant and animal is dictated by the genes selfish nature to multiply makes for an interesting read. Reading it today, more than 40 years after it was written, some of the scientific achievements of mankind that seemed speculative and futuristic at the time are now already in use. For example, he talks about something similar to what became IBM's deep blue (first chess-playing computer to win against the reigning world champion), maps that could give you the best route and today we can't think of going anywhere without Google Maps. Also, one of the chapters is called memes because of its traditional meaning, which ...

© Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson A country's expenditure on research and the attitudes of its citizens towards science and technology are one of the leading parameters of development of a country. India spends about 0.65 % of its GDP (world bank data for 2015) on research and development, a number that has not changed much in two decades. The Indian educational system too on the other hand does not help in creating scientific temperament. The education is mostly a means to secure a job, any job, however far removed it might be from the field you've studied.  These issues are even more apparent when you interact with people not related to the field. There is a lack of curiosity about science even among educated people. In fact, some are also of the view that it is a waste of the taxpayer's money. They go so far as to complain about the fact that their tax money is being used to fund PhD scholarships of students in Indian institutions. This, when the govern...

I started working in a biology lab about a year ago and realized quite a few things while I learnt the ropes. Here they are in no particular order. You go through a lot of pipette tips and latex gloves thereby generating a lot of non-biodegradable waste. So yeah, research does not always help the world, sometimes it just generates new trash.  You run out of good clothes because almost all of them have bleach stains on them. And of course, that's because you're too lazy to put on a lab coat.  You develop a bit of an OCD coz' you're constantly worried that you didn't turn on the shaker, or left your bacteria plate in the incubator for too long or left the gas on, etc. I can actually list a whole page of stuff I worry about long after I've left for home. :P Bacterial contamination can ruin your experiments and make you lose a day and sometimes more. Tiny tubes of 40 micro-liters of enzyme cost over USD 200. That sure seems like a lot of money! You have to ...

It's been more than eight months since I took the decision to try my hands at experiments. It was a crazy decision to say the least. I have gone from "Hah! What was I thinking!!" to "God! This is so taxing!" to "Yeah! I own this shit. No big deal." It's been frustrating and overwhelming and yet so worth the time and effort I put in.  When I started out last year, it was the first time in 7 years that I even held a beaker or a conical flask in my hand, let alone a living organism like a worm. I was unsure if I would be any good and it seemed overwhelming. But, I took the plunge anyway. In the beginning I was excited about this fresh challenge. Call it my ignorance, but what I didn't realize at the time was that I would have to be attuned to the worm's and its food, the bacteria's, life cycle. This meant that some steps of the experimental protocol would fall late at night or early in the morning. And so, I became the legendary slee...