Monday, January 4, 2010

Science for Whom?

Kudos to this great yet simple human !!!. Not much fuss, not much frills, his foot firm on the ground. The way Dr.Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, the nobel laureate of Indian origin handles his new found fame is appreciation-worthy. Remarkable is his science and more impressive are his genuine thoughts. We are so good at marveling on reflected glories. Not to say of our hero worship. When someone of Indian origin achieves we here are in a festive mood and there are reports and stories on the greatness of this particular person flooding in newspapers for a few days. It may even go to the extent of silly details like what he eats/ drinks. Everyone tries to relate to him/her, run after him/ her, catch hold of the faintest roots of connection/ relation… only to be forgotten after the initial frenzy/ sensational news. Yes, winning a nobel is not easy. It is truly admirable.

Success is not achieved overnight. A battle is to be fought before the prize is won. Dr. V. Ramakrishnan seems to very well understand that (though his years of hardwork was not aimed at winning a nobel prize). He seems to have imbibed the true spirit of science. As rightly remarked by Dr. V. Ramakrishnan, there is a lot of good science and research work done at many labs all over the world. A problem based-approach is what is required. Science is not about cramming information and in this era of exploding technological advancement, it is practically impossible to use the brain for feeding all the information generated at an alarming amount. Rather it is important to identify the real problem and solve it in the best possible way. Our society is diverse and dynamic. Problems whether scientific or societal exist in myriad forms. When we focus on these and find solutions we become extra ordinary/ great and not by imitating the prestigious prize winners or the successful of the west. Science is for society and through science even if a small problem of common man could be rectified, it is truly great. A scientist is judged now by the number of papers published in high impact factor journals/ the number of patents/ the number of talks or invited lectures he/she has given or even the number of symposiums or useless seminars he/she has attended and all that. A different and a high profile culture is being created. It’s high time for us to introspect on what kind of rut we are entering into.

Nobel prize shouldn’t be the reason for choosing a career in Science. Nobel prize is not to be won by aping but it should be only an inspiration to conduct good research. Every word and thought of Dr. Ramakrishnan seems to reflect his wisdom. Learned is he and as wise is he. Think all these felicitations (ceremonials??) will not surely distract the nobel laureate from his mission!!!!.

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