The UV transilluminator sees PhD emotions Transpire every day near it Unparalleled is the level of anticipation I have witnessed from where I sit PhD students have shown to trainees How to visualize and cut a gel Postdocs have breathed heavy sighs of defeat When the light showed a failed indel Had they moved towards a solution or sent Three precious days down the drain? No matter the answer, that night their heart must Go to sleep in very great pain In contrast to these occasions when I Empathise with their plight My favourite is watching when people have jumped up Celebrating with squeals of delight Little (and big) victory dances I have seen Of triumph and utter relief, Their spirits so lifted that in all of science Renewed gets their belief! When knowledge imparted from senior to junior I’ve picked up a concept or two Whether it excites you, whether it dismays you, A powerful colour is blue. The anticipation around the gel varies In the form of a normal curve Trainee and first year show indifference with senior But time different flavours does serve The second year comes bringing great expectation For she’s just started her own project The third year brings some quiet frustration Outward expression a little abject Experience walks in with Zen-like realization And detachment of the fourth year The last year is not even running a gel, A junior can do it- it’s clear. The beyond years are called by their juniors just To visualize and consult The DNA community, the protein community.. Doesn’t it sound like a cult? I must confess though that heavy sighs Are way more than victory But I understand now, the ways of science- Sometimes morose, sometimes glee In taking our projects from conception to A logical conclusion We learn that we are powerful- What’s a little trial, a little tribulation? We develop a will and a confidence To know that we can do it We can wade through huge obstacles And mind it only a bit This deep knowledge I have gained my friends Has not come to me for free I have run many many a gel And failed at most You see But I work near the UV transilluminator And trust me, there’s no bench that’s greater
Isha Rakheja
Isha is a PhD student in Dr. Souvik Maiti’s lab, working on targeting lncRNA structures using small molecules. She thinks that doing science is a lot like stumbling through life and is trying to figure out both.
You nicely written the poem , I never knew that you have such talent, many many thanks
to you
Baba