Why I love doing what I do?

If you follow me on twitter or you have spoken to me or just happen to be around you will know
How F***ed up I am currently with my experiments...I am in the phase..yeah PHASE where things just go wrong or don't work for some unknown reasons and all you have is a horrible day/week/month -PHASE in the lab!!!

The irony is...still I want to write or I am in the mood to write yes! about the

"Pleasures in doing Science(biology)"

photos clicked by vidhi patel

I have been blessed by some truly AWESOME ( here even awesome is an understatement) moments for which I LIVE and do SCIENCE.

I may never in my Life win a Noble, I won't! But surely more than once I Win through some moments that make me happy amidst the situations when things are difficult! 

These moments may neither be big events nor be to be bragged about success stories...they are simple and yet they put a huge SMILE on otherwise tensed face!

The moment when-

• the tube inside the electroporator doesn't arc...

• after n rounds of cloning et al the plate shows the clones/mutants the sight of that off-white small tiny-tiny colony! :)

• the gel picture has bands of perfect size (so perfect that the reviewers might suspect it to be Photoshopped)

• positive and negative controls are picture perfect! Specially the negative control!!!

• at one go I hit the bulls eye... pick up the right number of tubes and weigh the right quantity!

• I start with a new project and it looks all interesting and the euphoria of looking at new things is like the one when you are gifted with a new toy!

• I read an amazing piece of literature...listen/read to a logical and well reasoned argument!

• when I talk to a biggie in the field! You always want to meet and talk to the successful well established peers in your field! 

• when after an Eureka moment things START MAKING SENSE

• I am satisfied (though never) and happy as to what I am doing!(mind you very few people fall into this category)

and THE moment for which all of us...every researcher works hard,contemplates,procrastinates 

INVENTION/DISCOVERY/FINDING (peer reviewed :P)

Such moments just "work" they are part of enjoying your job and its just not me it seems it happens to best of us... like my friend working in Computational Biology says 'The kind of joy and satisfaction he gets once he is through a difficult to code Code is surreal'

While we pursue the Questions we ask we also 

Cherish the Moments that lead to it!

And This is part of sharing 'those' moments -

(via twitter)

AndyKraemer Nascent Biologist 

Meetings always re-energize me - they remind me why being a scientist is so much fun! #evol11

 AlecJRoss Alec Ross 

20 years ago today, Tim Berners-Lee published his proposal for the World Wide Web. The proposal http://www.w3.org/Proposal.html

  
 @edyong209 @RogerHighfield
It's about time the public realised science is mainly done by 23 yr olds with hangovers.

  
khedkarsupriya supriya khedkar
1of d reasons I luv Lif sci: it has many best kept secrets waitin 2 be fathomed,each findin addin new dimension 2 ur understanding of life..

   
edyong209 Ed Yong RT ed by khedkarsupriya
MUHAHAHA! I have full individual access to ScienceDirect. (I have no idea how; possibly in response to an email I sent months ago)

   
NeilWithers Neil Withers by khedkarsupriya

Very handy! Bookmarked RT @JonSatriani: My new favourite site: http://copypastecharacter.com/.

khedkarsupriya supriya khedkar
Almost forgot in the middle of the hectic day that was - CSIR AWARD LETTER IS "FINALLY" HERE!!!! :)

khedkarsupriya supriya khedkar
when I say I LIKE discussing science-biology and fundamental questions in biology...I actually LOVE it!!!

Mumbai Rains!!!

As my tweet goes "April sky...full of dark clouds pouring like never before!!! looks lik a july evening in Mumbai" :)

I do a summersault and dive into the pool of nostalgic-awesome-refreshing goosebumpy moments I have witnessed during the heavy Mumbai rains!!!

As a kid :P ;)

• first day at school and you end up wetting your new uniform in the rain on your way to school.
• Dry your umbrellas, rain coats et al in the class making the class look like a shop selling wet umbrellas and raincoats.
• Back from school and it still rains heavily outside; have a quick lunch and slip into the warm blanket...trust me its heaven and I wish I could do it often on every rainy afternoon!
• Get drenched in the first rains...first rains that are distributed over a weeks time or even more!!!
• Jump in the puddle of muddy water and sail boats in the stream that flows from the building to the gutter outside!

Ruia days

• first year and experiencing the infamous "26th July" 

Palan Mam taking lec amidst 100 calls from home, amidst mass evacuation in Ruia due to rains,  admidst the deafening noise of the pitter-patter rain drops!!! 
One hell of a day it was walking in knee deep water from Mahim to Bandra reclamation, dropping the phone in the flood water, being hit by a huge wave of flood water created by a passing car, playing cards in candle light post reaching home and then one week no college!!!

• Post second year with apna gang

1. everyone armed with an umbrella is walking and suddenly you feel some water drops kind of sprinkled on your body and its vids rotating her umbrella!!!
2. followed by someone purposely tapping the umbrella to repeat the sprinkler effect!!
3. someone will then try to invert part of the umbrella, try collecting water and since this process takes time everyone will figure out the strategy and try to run off and the collected water will be wasted in the process!!!

---the story of rain drop fights over the years!!!! it just requires a moment of silence either when we are walking or waiting for chai and then steps follow in the order 1 ->2 -> 3 and 1 again!!!

• not to forget the lohgad and visapur trek and the story of never ending and constantly diluting tea in the rains!!! 

Some awesome moments-

• Its not the first rain...but you know the kind of day when the rain is welcoming like never before: its heavily,violently raining at around 5pm; me and my cousin look out of the window call up 3-4 friends, get into a rick and land up straight to bandstand and what we experience there is by far my best getting drenched in Mumbai rains experience!!! It was surreal...!!!!
• when it rains heavily at night the deafening sound of the rain fills the atmosphere and in competition to it you play your fav song in full volumes!!! aah this has to be one of the best moments!
• the occasions when its so windy that umbrella turns-over or just flies off, its fun!!! Man!!! that's so...Mumbai rains!!!
  
• Not to forget hogging on garam garam batata wada and onion bhajiya whilst having kadak garam aadrak ki chai!!!

I am so missing Mumbai rains,already!!!!