Dr. C. Vijayan, Dept.
of Physics, IIT Madras
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Adventures |
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of a |
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Research Scholar |
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Click here for Adventure I |
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Written in 1985 Adventures of a research scholar - II [ These adventures are purely imaginary; resemblance, if any, to anyone, living or dead or doing research is purely accidental ] Power went off again. Arjuna felt dejected. What a day! A late morning (he had work late in till late night yesterday), a horrible breakfast (stale bread and no butter), a quarrel with the mess supervisor … Situation was bad in the lab too. Liquid nitrogen was not available, his work-table has been disturbed, the most crucial instrument has been borrowed out. And now the power cut! Luckily, he remembered to switch the pump off in good time; otherwise it would be a bad mess. Arjuna looked at the letters on his table. Letter from home, asking whether he started writing his thesis, How many years to `settle down'? A friend wrote asking why he did not see Arjuna's name in the Physics Abstract Author index so far. You may soon find it in the psychology abstracts subject index if situation persists, he thought. The mail also contained an information sheet or some experimental set up from the manufacturers-versatile, microprocessor-based and all that! For a long time he has been struggling to fabricate a home-made version of something like that in the lab. `If only I had this instrument to work with!' he thought. The door opened and his guide, Dr. Krishna entered the lab. The characteristic smile vanished from his face when he saw the expression on the face of his student Arjuna. "Well, what happened, my dear young man?" he asked. "Sir, I want to quit" said Arjuna, "no equipment, no facility, no encouragement, no satisfaction and no research atmosphere. You are always busy. How am I supposed to work? I'd go back home and write some bank exam and earn get some better-paying job than otherwise." Dr. Krishna smiled patiently and smiled, " You seem to be upset; come with me, let us talk about it over a cup of tea." Reluctantly, Arjuna followed his guide to the canteen. "We all have our moments of glory as well as agony, Arjuna; not only now, but also often, later in life too" Dr. Krishna explained. "But, in life one has to rise above all these and get the best of any given situation. Analyse the situation logically, as we physicists ought to do. Anyway, do you really think sitting behind a bank counter calculating compound interest day in and day out will make you feel any better?" "Sir,
that is not the point at all. What about the research situation?" Arjuna
interjected. "I am coming to that." Sipping his tea, Dr. Krishna continued, `Ph. D. is only a training. Your worry should be about research per se and not about when you will get a degree. In fact, that is the only way to eventually get the degree fast! Getting the degree is not all that difficult, you know. Always aim at some ambitious work, some significant advance, good papers, some definite contribution. Of course, if even after a few years of sincere and hard work you are nowhere near a degree in a particular problem, then you may relent a little bit and settle down for something less ambitious. But then the experience gained through the hard work and training will surely prove to be of great use in your future. The statement that we learn more if an experiment does not work in the beginning is quite meaningful in research. You know of many of our previous students who have made bright careers, both in India and abroad, based on the experience gained here. You must have the right attitude, enthusiastic motivation. In general, I do find it lacking in many students." "But sir, why?" Haven't you ever thought why the students, having come here through a tough selection procedure, lose motivation at young age? You know that many of us have joined research out of pure interest, even ignoring other lucrative opportunities. The real problem lies elsewhere." "I can understand your situation, Arjuna" Dr. Krishna said, " I know about it very well. To be on the frontiers of research, we have to compete with the sophisticated labs abroad, with our limited facilities and funds. I can tell you that what you have here is about the best you can get in the Indian scenario. We do not have any option but to take it as a challenge and make the maximum out of the facilities available. With hard work and dedication, we still can achieve a lot. Can't we? We can assure you a few good papers and a good probability of being selected for a good post-doctoral fellowship in some good lab abroad, for example, where you get all the facilities to fulfill your academic ambitions and to prove your real worth. Many of our students have done so, you know. With the insight and experience you gain there, you should then come back and try to improve the Indian situation." Dr. Krishna continued, "I also agree that the research atmosphere here ought to be improved a lot. I know that some guides do not take any interest in their students' hard work. Nor are they informed about the latest developments in their fields. Guides should realize that this leads to frustration among the students and actually amounts to murdering the enthusiasm and spirit of the research scholars towards physics, research and life in general. Apart from that, more meaningful discussions and interaction should be there among students, faculty and technical and scientific staff, between various departments etc. You yourselves can do something about that. You have your associations which can and should act as for a to wake up the guides and the whole department towards a better research atmosphere. See, enthusiasm is contagious; no matter who starts it!" After finishing his cup of tea, Dr. Krishna continued in a lower tone : "Arjuna, I will tell you from my own experience that seemingly unsolvable problems will frequently haunt us in life. But our strength lies in making sincere efforts within our best ability to meet the challenges. Rather than getting disappointed, one should try to improve the situation to the maximum extent possible. Is it not this aspect that makes man great? You would not have been selected here unless you had a good knowledge of the basics and the capacity to think scientifically. So, make the maximum of it. I agree that probably I too have not been very active. But you have brought me back to my full senses. " Arjuna felt his hopes reviving. He said "I feel better, sir. Thank you. Sorry for my outburst." Dr. Krishna said, " That is all right, we are all humans. Now for get it al, go to hostel and take some rest. Shall we meet in the evening, say by eight? - or, would you rather watch Chitrahaar on the TV? " "No, sir, I will come by eight if it is convenient for you." Both departed, smiling. "Yatra yogeswarah Krishnah, Yatra Partho dhanurdharah ; Click here for Adventure I |