मी नक्की काय (काम) करतो?

आतापर्यंत हजार वेळा हा प्रश्न विचारला गेला असेल आणि तरीही प्रत्येक वेळी मला हमखास विचारात पाडतो. (माझ्या "सायंटिस्ट" मित्र-मैत्रिणींना हा अनुभव काही नवा नसणार!)  हा प्रश्न विचारणार्या मंडळींमध्ये प्रमुख म्हणजे- आई-बाबा (हो, हो, अजूनही), मी ज्यांना शिकवतो ती मुलं, जीव-शास्तरातली माझी मित्र-मंडळी (ही पण!), अणि संगणक-अभियंते (यांच्याबद्दल तर सांगणे न लगे)… असो!

या प्रश्नाच्या उत्तरावर कधी-कधी मजेदार प्रती-प्रश्न विचारले जातात… मागे एकदा मी तीमारपूर वस्तीतल्या एका मुलाला जेंव्हा सांगितलं की "हम रिसर्च करते हैं" तेंव्हा त्याने दरवाज्याच्या बिजागरीकडे बोट दाखवून मला विचारलं "मतलब? आप ये ठीक करते हो?". आता मी नेहमीच काही इतका मुर्खपणा करत नाही, त्यामुळे बर्याचदा लोक गोंधळल्या सारखं  "म्हणजे नक्की काय?" इतकंच विचारतात. याचं दुसरं टोक म्हणजे जीव-शास्त्रातले काही महाभाग सुद्धा मला जैव-माहिती शास्त्रज्ञ समजतात (त्याबद्दल नंतर कधीतरी.)

या सगळ्या गोंधळाचा एकदाचा निस्तरा करावा या हेतूने हा प्रपंच… खरं तर दोन हेतू आहेत- १. मी नक्की काय करतो हे समजावणे… २. "सायंटिस्ट" लोकांबद्दल आणि वैज्ञानिक संशोधनाबद्दल सामान्य लोकांना सहज-सोप्या भाषेत काही गोष्टी  समजावून सांगणे.
तर, मी एक सायंटिस्ट/संशोधक आणि (सध्या) संगणकीय जैव-शास्त्रज्ञ आहे आणि मला- 'जीवाणू कसे जगतात, त्यांचं कार्य कसं चालतं, त्यांची उत्क्रांती कशी होते' इ. प्रश्नांच्या उत्तरांचा शोध घेण्यात अणि ती समजून घेण्यात रस आहे.

"म्हणजे नक्की काय रे?"
सांगतो! सगळं नीट सांगतो! अगदी सुरुवातीपासून.

आता तुम्हाला विज्ञान-संशोधकांबद्दल पुसटशी का होईना माहिती असेलंच! चंद्र-सुर्य-ग्रह-ता-यांबद्दल, (नुकत्याच 'सापडलेल्या') 'हिग्ग्ज'च्या  कणाबद्दल, कर्करोगाबद्दल, स्टेम-सेल्स (stem-cells, मुळ-पेशी, स्कंध-पेशी) बद्दल, नव-नवीन औषधं अन लसींबद्दल, आणि झालंच तर मन-मेंदू-वर्तणूक यांबद्दल वर्तमान-पत्रांतून छापून येणारे शोध लावणारी मंडळी म्हणजे- सायंटिस्ट!! बरोब्बर! पण आपल्याला अजून काही मुद्द्यांबद्दल विचार केला पाहिजे-
१. निसर्गात अजूनही अनेकविध गोष्टी आहेत  (माहित असलेल्या आणि नसलेल्यासुद्धा!).
२. संशोधक शोध लावतात कसे?

वरील मुद्द्यांचा तपशीलात जाउन वेध घेणारे काही लेख लिहिण्याचा माझा मानस आहे. मला आशा आहे की यांतून विज्ञान आणि निसर्गाबद्दल होणारं आकलन तुम्हाला आनंद-दायक ठरेल!

तुमच्या प्रश्नांची उत्तरं देण्यासही मला आवडेल. तुमचे अभिप्राय नक्की कळवा…


What do I do?


This has been a question that has been asked a hundred times and one that still always makes me think before answering. The people asking this question range from my parents, kids I teach, colleagues in Biology, to software engineers (you guessed it right- in decreasing order of general awareness about the world ;)). My answers (depending on a lot of factors) often evoke yet more interesting questions. Most recently, when I told a kid from the basti that hum research karte hai (pardon my exceeding but temporary stupidity), he asked me- mutleb, aap ye (pointing towards the hinges of the nearest door) thik karte ho? I am not so stupid all the time and often people are more forgiving and reply with only a quizzical look or a confused "meaning?" or "what do you do, exactly?". (At the other end, colleagues in Biology mistake me for a bioinformatician, but more on that later some time...) To communicate what I really do, and more importantly, as a small attempt to increase public understanding of science and scientific research, and scientists, I have decided to answer this question in some detail here. I am afraid it will turn out to be longish, so once it is done, I will insert a one-paragraph guide to help people find the most relevant bit.

So, I am a researcher/scientist, biologist, and (currently) a computational biologist interested in understanding how microbes work and evolve.

People are vaguely quite aware of what scientists are- "scientists are people who do the work reported in the news about our moon, other planets, stars etc., (or lately) Higg's boson, cancer, stem cells, new drugs/vaccines or (at most) the brain and behaviour". And they use the microscope! That's right! But note two things-
1. our natural world is much much more diverse than that.
2. how do scientists exactly find out how the world works?

What will follow is a series of articles that will address the above issues in detail.
Hope you enjoy reading them and enjoy the understanding! I will be very glad to answer your questions and receive feedback.

Wandering in a big city- Nehru Place, Delhi


I enjoy being a part of the life of a big city... Thats not to say that I dont enjoy being in the garden of a sleepy town-house, or sleeping on a rope bed under the stars in a out-of-our-world village, or climbing the shoulders of a rocky mountain-fort or sitting pensively on the banks of a flowing river... I love the spirit that comes with every place... But sometimes I just love being in cities, big cities... First there was Mumbai, then Pune, and now thre is Delhi... I looove Delhi.. and among the many places I love to be in Delhi is Nehru Place! To many, Nehru Place (NP) is just a big market of computers and electronics, and thats how I was introduced to NP too...

Actually, I dont remember my first visit to NP at all.. All I remember is being outside Sona Sweets- a decently big, modern looking sweet shop with its glass cabinet-counters displaying racks of Indian sweets of every color and shape, counters serving chaats, Indauri poha, gaajar ka halwa et al and of course the crowd of families, couples, college kids, and uncles jostling for their share of space and mouth-watering food... (and it was the crowd why I actually ate at Sona Sweets only a couple of visits later) The other food memory at NP is of a garma-garam kadhi-chawal at a small outlet hiding between its bigger non-veg cousin and a bank... Even more, (much much much much more) tastier was the masaala mirch that comes with the plate overflowing with rice... And if you are those types who can believe a guy whose favorite dish at weddings is carrots from the salad, nothing can beat hot kadhi-rice with the oh-so-tangy masaala mirch on a hungry, sunny winter afternoon in Delhi. [And yes, if you want to catch up with an old friend who cannot take a chance in a million to risk his health you can go towards the part of NP near the NP metro, and you can find Southy- a nice little south-indian cafe, and everyone's favourite CCD, which with its couches and terrace-sitting is actually quite nice to catch up with an old friend on a lazy morning... :).]

If you are not a Delhiwallah and shouting at the screen- dude, what exactly is NP- hang on! From outside NP looks like a normal urban shopping area with a big parking and a clutch of big (compared to most of Delhi) buildings... It is only once you enter the premises you are welcomed into it's large bustling courtyards, squatting between towering structures of long concrete corridors, one upon the other; the towers decorated by a patchwork of small/big sign-boards and displays of latest electronic items. There is no seeming order, neither to the crowds criss-crossing your path nor to the patch work. It's only when one starts plodding one's way searching for a clue to what one wishes to find, this bewildering maze starts unravelling its complex design...

The ground floors of the buildings are mostly dominated by single-brand stores, medium size retailers, and ATMs save for a few shops selling ear-phones et al and the ilk of Sona sweet/Snack junction... Lining the corridors here are the chaps sitting on wooden stools, offering to laminate your laptop-screens or refill a printer's cartridge... If you press ahead with a confused look you are bound to be bombarded with a choice of either “software-games” or “pen drive-hard disk-repair-second hand-bechna-khareedna”... If you are still determined to find your own way you can take one of those spiralling stair-cases to the next level. For most parts this level has more small retailers and small repair shops. This is where souls troubled by a broken keyboard or a misbehaving screen, a slow computer or lost data are most likely to find respite. Also likely that you were looking for speakers or head phones or other accessories and you found them here... On the other hand if you were desperate (or first-timer or the chance-taker) and the agent was able to persuade you to go to a shop he suggested you might turn out to be lucky (or not so lucky) depending on how confused you are generally... ;) The inside of all towers, or so it seems to me, consist of intimidating alleys of outlets that are shady or run by novices... If you are looking for really expert and cheap help, and IMPORTANTLY if you know your way about the world you can decide to cross the towers through an alley, come out on the outside and enter into the basement which is another maze of repair units... Bon chance!! If you are looking for the service centre of a particular company, you will find it comfortably holding its place in the world (ac and all) on the higher levels which can be entered through staircases and elevators hidden in the deep interior of the towers... Apart from these, the highest levels of the towers showcase huge boards announcing the presence of big insurance corporations and banks.

Once you have found what you came looking for at NP and exit the big towers, you start noticing that the courtyards at NP have a different life of their own too... Here you will permanently find the make-shift stalls of garments, shoes and tools occupying a central place. Peter England, BlackBerry, and Rebok dominate the stalls competing alongside lesser known brands of trousers, shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, half-pants, sport shoes, sandals, chappals, you name it...

If you are really a keen observer, or interested in those beings walking on two limbs, or if a admiring regular (like me) you will start realizing that you have met just about every kind of a person here... The couples come here to stroll (yes! they are everywhere...), the college groups come here to hangout, the geeks, the tech-savvy and the needy come here to buy, over-caring parents come here to dote their college going kids, the businessmen come here to sell, the agents and workers come here to earn livelihood, the apprentices come here to learn... People arrive in buses, by metro, by cars, or on bikes... They eat at the chhole-kulche waalah, from a home tiffin or in Pind Balucci!! They are cheerful like new sons taking over their family businesses, sulky like old chaps bored with their lives, professionally adept like the sales guys, really helpful (like the uncle who sold me a laptop battery), or masters of their work (like the people who replaced my screen-light)... If you spend enough time, you will start noticing the paan-wallah, or the old man who repairs watches, and still sells watch straps (!!), or the young fellas who polish boots... even a poojari performing quick poojas for the shop-owners and blowing the conch summoning the gods of prosperity...

As you start back on the road to your own life somewhere else in this big city, there is one last bit that you can never miss... a chai stall on the first corner serving awesome tulsi-adrak chai with achaari Maggi!!

At Nehru Place, the worlds of individuals intersecting, coming together, creating a new world of its own, the world of a city with the spirit of the city...

National Public School- with TFI

Few interesting and exciting things happened this week.

The week started with TFI (www.teachforindia.org) inviting applicants to visit a school where TFI fellows were teaching a class. I was unable to make it to any of their previous “weekend coffee chats” but decided to go to this one since it seemed like a good opportunity to get acquainted with some ground issues in education. Even after considering that I had to wake up way early than usual and that the school was in Shahdara, it turned out to be a great decision!

The site of crowded naked red-brick houses as the metro crossed the Jamuna was prompt in reminding me of the reality of our cities and societies. The locality of the school- perhaps a worker's class colony on the vicinity of an industrial area made me even more pensive. However, my mood was instantly lifted as I stepped into the school courtyard. The sounds and the feel of a generation being forged! About 7-8 of us were soon welcomed into a class by a young, smiling teacher and the echoes of “Good Morning Didi, Good Morning Bhaiyya” from all over the tiny classroom... The whole place oozed a cheerful positivity... It was after a while that I was returning to a classroom and it was amazing to see how Ghazal (the teacher) introduced India's constitution to kids of 9-10, the way she encouraged kids to think, prodded them with questions, encouraged them to answer, appreciated their efforts... she was so into it! Tottaly made my morning!! All the walls of the class were filled by colourful charts- displaying the "stars" kids had earned, instructing them to speak in English and so on... My favoritest idea was the "curiosity box". Whoever had a question to ask, wrote it on a chit and placed it in the box... what a cool idea! :) Later Ghazal patiently answered our questions about teaching and TFI... After the class visit was done, Mohit- a former fellow, also shared his experiences about working to bring a change in and outside the classroom.

One of the most important take-home message for me was TFI's professional approach to teaching... When I had begun filling their application form, I was frustrated by the same thing- professionality in the information they asked for... But perhaps achieving a real and tangible change on the ground needs much more than the right intent and spirit... We had tried being more systematic when I was involved at Manavya and the Hadapsar project of DreamIndia, but somehow I could never sustain it! But quite motivated by the visit, today I offered Kaushal to help him bring a more professional approach to their efforts in teaching kids in the Timarpur area. The plan is to document and monitor progress- assess and record student levels, keep realistic goals, choose teaching strategies based on an objective analysis, and follow the progress periodically. Have to make it work this time!

I have also filled in the TFI application for 2013... Have to think about where that's going. Probably no where, but still...

Meanwhile, 80% of students enrolled in the Economics class on Coursera are males!! What a shame!