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LIFE OF PI – Making a difference in your journey!

posted Sep 16, 2015, 2:51 AM by Vinod Scaria   [ updated Sep 18, 2015, 3:32 AM by SRamachandran Igib ]
Satya Pandey, Amrita Ramkumar, Hemant Suryawanshi, Kaurab Singh, Anusha Aditya, Kanika Verma and Ganesh Agam, Research Scholars, CSIR-IGIB.....

Success and failures are part of life. But in Science, success is marred with a thousand failures. It is important for us to understand that a scientist will have more than 100 ways to fail but only one way to succeed and yet each of the failure bestows as much experience as the ever-sweet success. Scientific community is laden with successful discoveries and it is important to appreciate these stories. Listening to a personal account of innovation, a passionate tale of scientific expedition and the saga of determination in the face of failure is of paramount importance to the younger lot who constantly face the frustrations of failed experiments. It is important to make them realize that Science is a journey of Trials and Tribulations, about Passion and more importantly of Perseverance.

Over an ever-so-sad-yet-normal evening tea when frustrations were galore with failed hypothesis and experiments, an idea sprung from the lanes of serendipity. An idea called- LIFE OF PI. Did our bosses face the same struggles as we did? Was it easy for them to reach where they are now? Was it extraordinary brilliance or passionate enthusiasm or the undying spirit that is required to be successful in Science?

The LIFE OF PI series was initiated to make students aware of the difficult journey of commitment & hard work that one endures during their research career. It is a platform where successful and established PIs discuss the hurdles and barriers faced by them during their early PhD days and more importantly how they overcame it like a champion. Listening to their tales of failures and reminiscing with them the woes of Ph.D. life gave us all a sense of understanding and a hope to persevere through all our defeats and setbacks. It is very difficult to compare the depth of two failures in science. But as and when we moved ahead we realized that established PIs have all made mistakes and more importantly they have learn't and grown from them.

It was a privilege and honour to meet these stalwarts and get a sneak preview into their personal journey. An informal gathering for students and a platform to interact with the who's-who of science has made the series more special and unique. The happy hours spent with dynamic personas ranging from the Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Late Dr. Sunithi Solomon, Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Dr. George Whitesides, Dr. P. Balaram, Dr. Biju Das and many more have instilled in us the value of hard work, humility and grace. It was the much needed “pick-me-up” session for the frustrated researchers in all of us.

We hope and wish that the student community at CSIR-IGIB takes this series forward ameliorating the idea and making it better and engaging for the future generations to come!!!